Aboard The Frozen Rose
by Christy C
Summary: Captain Andrew Hayden, one of the most feared and respected pirates in the world. Maybelle Maple, the governor's daughter, one of the most saught after and loved women in the world. When these two meet, everything will change. Drew May Contestshipping
1. Welcome Aboard

**Welcome Aboard**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

**__**

Okay, I have decided that I'm going to post up everything I have typed. This is mainly because my PC has been on the fritz and I figure, if it's already on fanfiction then if I end up losing my files or getting a new computer, I can just get them from fanfiction. So, some of these I won't be updating in awhile, just a warning.

"She was fiesty....close to impossible to kidnap." a female voice angrily said.

"Seriously Drew, I wouldn't leave her untied, she bit me!" a high pitched male voice exclaimed, more like whining.

"I think we can handle some sheltered governor's daughter, she's probably terrified." another male laughed.

"Seriously, you guys, are you overeacting a bit? She's been protected by body guards her whole life!" a cold, harsh sounding voice mocked them.

"You'll see when she wakes up." the female promised. May decided than they must be talking about her. She slowly opened her eyes and leaned up. It looked as if it was dawn or close to it, the sun was just peaked above the horizon.

"Hello Miss Maple, welcome aboard the Frozen Rose." a male smirked at her, he held his hand out for her to shake. May glared at the hand, her eyes moved up to glare at his face and she noticed he looked about eighteen and had green hair and eyes. He was wearing dark green pants and a white baggy long sleeve shirt; he had a dark green bandanna in his hair and a gold earring in his ear.

"Who are you?" May growled at him rudely.

"I see she has a bit of a temper, nothing to overreact about." another male laughed, shooting a look at two people. He had the cold and harsh voice. He had dark purple shoulder length hair and onyx eyes. He looked to be about seventeen. He was wearing black pants and a white baggy long sleeve shirt with a dark purple vest, he also had a black bandanna.

"It gets much worse." a girl she recognized from earlier in the evening said.

---------------------------Flashback--------------------------------------------------------------------

_May was just getting ready for bed, her maid had offered to help her, but she politely declined. Why did she have a maid? Well, she was Maybelle Maple, the governor's oldest daughter. Her siblings were her younger sister, Dawn, and her younger brother, Max. She managed to get about an hour of sleep, before she heard a commotion outside. She carefully stood up and put on a robe over her nightdress. She crept carefully towards her door, but jumped back when her door burst open and in came two people. They were holding long swords._

_"Hello, May, is it?" a girl from the group asked. May tilted her head._

_"Terribly sorry, I don't give my name to strange people who break my door." May replied, eyes narrowing. The girl and boy laughed. It was then she looked at them. The girl had bright orange hair and green eyes. She was wearing plain black baggy pants and a orange tightly fitted sleeveless shirt that was tied at the waist. She also had a black bandanna holding her hair back. She looked about eighteen. The boy was very tall, he had long light purple hair that was tied in a small ponytail at the nape of his neck and bright green eyes. He was wearing a baggy white shirt with a dark green vest over it and tight black pants, he also had a green and yellow parrot on his shoulder. He looked to be about twenty-two. The two put their swords away._

_"Okay now, Darling, you are coming with us." the man said. May raised an eyebrow at him questioningly._

_"And if I don't?" May asked, crossing her arms over her chest._

_"Then, we make you." the girl said, grabbing May's arm. May pulled her arm from the girl. May opened her mouth to scream, but the male put his hand over her mouth before she could._

_"There will be no screaming." he commanded. May glared at him and chomped down on his hand. The male covered his own mouth to stop from screaming and ripped his hand away from May. The girl glared at her and before May could do anything else, something hit the back of her head and she fell to the ground. _

_The last thing she heard before everything went black was the boy growl, annoyed "Captain Drew better be thankful for us getting her."_

_________________________________________________________________

May glared at her and managed to stand. "You're the one who hit me in the back of the head with something!" May exclaimed.

"If you had just come quietly, then I wouldn't have had to!" the girl replied. The green-haired boy smirked.

"She doesn't seem that feisty." he laughed. May glared at him.

"She is! I swear Captian!" the male from before exclaimed.

"Now. You," she pointed to the green haired boy, "Drew, will turn the boat around now." May commanded. The others laughed and Drew looked at her questionably.

"How did you know my name?" he asked, she pointed to the light purple haired man.

"I don't want to repeat myself." May growled. The dark purple haired boy from before came up to her, laughing.

"We're not about to take orders from you, besides we need you to get money from you father." the boy smirked. May glared at him now. She lifted her foot high and stomped down on his, hard. The boy growled at her, limping. May swung around to face Drew, pointing a finger in his face.

"You will return me to Petalburg Port." May growled, commanding him to do so. Drew smirked at her.

"I'm not afraid of you, Princess." he laughed. She raised her hand to slap him which he caught before it was anywhere close to his face. She raised her other hand and he caught it again. She smirked and then kicked his shin. He growled at her jumping backwards.

"Told you." the girl smirked.

"Well, we must be kind to Princess Priss." Drew growled, "Introduce yourselves."

"I'm Misty." the girl smirked, she did a fake curtsy.

"Harley," the light purple haired male glared at her, "the one you bit." he added.

"Paul." the dark purple haired boy growled at her. A tall pink haired, blue eyed, girl came in than. She was wearing a light purple vest that was opened and a short sleeved pink shirt was under it and she had on black baggy pants. Rings covered most of her fingers. She looked to be about twenty one.

"You called, Captian?" the girl asked.

"Yes, Solidad, I was going to ask you to watch over Princess Priss, but I don't think anyone could handle her alone, get Ash's help." Drew commanded. Solidad nodded. She quickly went out of the room and when she came back a few moments later a boy followed her. He had dark raven black colored hair and brown eyes. He looked about nineteen. He wore a dark blue long sleeved shirt and a brown vest with black capris.

"Attempt to control her." Drew sighed. The two nodded. Solidad and Ash came up to her, she glared at them.

"Please, Miss we just want to get you changed and I want to check on that bump on your head." Solidad said. May looked at her warily.

"We won't hurt you." Ash added. May followed them warily out of the room.  
"Smart decision choosing Ash and Solidad to take care of her. They knew the right thing to say." Misty pointed out. Drew nodded.


	2. Swordsfighter?

**Sword Fighter?**

May had been given by Solidad a shirt exactly like Misty's except it was red and black baggy pants. May got to keep her various bracelets and bangles and her hair was down and flowing. Solidad and Ash were now leading her to the main deck. They got there and the first one to see her was Paul.

"Wow, she even looks like a pirate, too bad she's defenseless." Paul laughed.

"Give me a sword, I'll show you defenseless." May spat at him, glaring yet again.

"We would, but we don't want you hurting yourself." Drew said, coming up behind her. The others laughed. May jumped forward to the closest person, who happened to be Harley and slid his sword out of his sheath. Everyone stopped laughing now.

"Come on now, you don't want to hurt yourself." Misty warned her. May raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come on, are all of you to afraid to fight me?" May asked, smirking, knowing they would take this as a challenge. Drew shook his head and sighed, drawing his sword.

"When I knock the sword out of your hand, than we agree no more playing with swords Princess? Okay?" he asked. May nodded, smirking. Drew slid forward quickly and swung at May's sword. She dodged and swung back. It went on like that for a few moments.

"How?!" Drew growled, "You shouldn't be able to hold your own against me!" he growled at her. The crew was impressed, the only person able to hold up their own against the captain for even a few moments was Misty, and even she couldn't hold up to him for that long.

"Princess Priss was interested in swordsmanship when she was younger." May mocked him. Drew growled and started a series of complicated step patterns, May followed easily. Drew carefully sliced his way closer and May realized what he was doing. She jumped onto the railing of the ship, somehow she kept her balance.

"That's dangerous you know, you could fall backwards." Drew growled at her. May said nothing, just flipped over Drew's head, surprising him and she used that to knock the sword from his hand. She placed her sword against his neck. She smirked, still panting though.

"Holy Shit...." Paul uttered, staring at May. Solidad's eyes were wide and Ash was gaping at her. Misty's mouth was dropped open.

"H-how? Y-you flipped through the air! How?!" Harley stuttered and stumbled. Some of the crew clapped. May took the sword from Drew's neck and slipped it back in the sheath attached to Harley's belt.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." May's smirk widened and she crossed her arms over her chest. Drew was staring at her, gaping is more like it.

"Oh! You so have to fight me!" Misty exclaimed, May had now gotten her respect.

"How did you learn to fight like that?!" Drew exclaimed, sounding more shocked than mad, but still sounding pretty mad.

"Practice, which I don't expect pirates to understand." May spat at him.

"You seem like a pirate to me, you look like one, you can control a sword like one, and you act _just _like one." Paul smirked. May looked at him shocked, and mad.

"What do you mean I act like one?!" May growled.

"You don't act like a prissy princess, the governor's daughter." Drew smirked, "Take it as a compliment, that's the best Paul can do in the compliment area." Drew and the others snickered. May rolled her eyes.

"When can I leave this stupid boat?" May asked. Drew was abruptly furious. His hand twitched towards his sword, but instead he just spun around and stomped back to his cabin. May watched mildly shocked.

"What's his problem?" May asked.

"You just insulted the Frozen Rose, this ship has been in his family for five generations, it's his only connection to his parents." Solidad explained. May's hand came to cover her mouth.

"Smooth move genius." Paul growled at her. May went after Drew slowly and the crew watched curious.

"You don't think they....." Misty started on Drew and May.

"No, no, captain wouldn't be that stupid.....I hope." Harley muttered the last part. Paul said nothing, but he had seen it, the spark between the captain and the governor's daughter, saw the way they stole glances at each and blushed. He hoped they were just curious about one another, but doubted it. He shook his head and sighed, knowing this would cause both of the two, and everyone else on deck trouble.


	3. A Heart to Heart

Drew shook his head, _why did he freak out? Why was he avoiding her? Why?_He growled in the back of his throat. He freaked out because his parents gave him this boat! That is, before they decided he was too stupid to be their son and sailed off into the sunset together, without him. The Frozen Rose was his ship, people cowering in fear at the mere sight of it, knowing he was the Capetian! She had no right to call it a _boat_, boat sounded so degrading, it just didn't fit the Frozen Rose. That's fine, but that still didn't answer why he had been avoiding the girl, _May. _She had been trying to find him all day and he had avoided her, watching from the crow's nest as she asked around for him. He knew this because his first mate, Paul had come up and told him. Paul urged him to go talk to her, but with a stern order from Drew, went back down. Why did he avoid her?

_Because she is the most feisty, self-assured, sharp tongued woman in the world! She should learn to keep her comments to herself before she loses her tongue! _Drew thought this, but a nagging voice in the back of his head was teasing him, saying he would never do that, he liked her being fiesty. Now, it was late, and there were only two or three people on deck, maintaining the ship. While Drew was so lost in his thoughts he had not been looking around, and didn't realized May had been climbing up the the crow's nest.

"I'm sorry." May said, relieved at finally being able to find Drew. She was aware that he had been avoiding her, after all she was just the annoying hostage that insulted his only connection to his parents. She wondered why that was, but didn't have the courage to ask him. Drew jumped at the sudden voice, spinning around with a hand on the sheath of his sword. May held her hands up in surrender.

"Why?" Drew asked, suspicious.

"Paul explained to me about your parents. I'm sorry, I didn't know this bo- ship meant so much to you." May said sincerly, automatically correcting herself. Drew cursed his first mate in his mind. May sighed and leaned on the railing next to him.

"Whatever." Drew growled ruffly, not liking how close she was, even though she wasn't even touching him.

"So," May drew, "How long am I stuck here?" she questioned.

"As long as it takes." Drew answered. May rolled her eyes, unhappy with the inadequate answer.

"An apprioximate time please." she requested.

"Don't know, pirate's way of life, live life as if today was your last day, don't count time." Drew flipped his hair.

"That may be true." May nodded, making a note of the interesting motto, "But you don't seem very much like a pirate, you have not man-handled me, you speak proper English, no use of 'aye', 'matey', 'lass', or 'arg', has come into play." May pointed out, always curious.

"One," Drew rolled his eyes, "You have read one too many pirate stories. And two," Drew smirked, leaning close to her face, "You haven't been on my ship long, lass. You have not witnessed everyday life nor a fight, aye." Drew leaned back. May blinked, breathing out in relief with the new distance between them. "Goodnight Miss Maybelle." Drew flipped his hair, starting the climb down from the crow's nest. May looked up at the stars.

"Goodnight, Captain Drew...." May murmured.


	4. Angered Already?

Next Day~~~~~~

May yawned and leaned up, rubbing her eyes. She glanced around. "This is not my room...." she muttered. What can you say, May's not very quick in the morning. It hit her after looking at her surroundings for a few minutes. "Duh, ship, of course." she shook her head. After quickly getting dressed and slipping on her red bandanna, she noticed something on her dresser, a long sheath with a sword on it. She unsheathed the sword and admired it's beauty, before realizing there was a note. She attached the sword to her belt and then grabbed the note. It read:

_**Miss Maple,**_

_**I think you've earned this sword, just don't even think about attempting mutiny, remember, we outnumber you.**_

_**-D.H**_

May chuckled lightly. D.H must have stood for Drew Hayden, May realized. Again, with the slowness in the head in the morning for her. She whistled happily as she left her room, and as she walked towards the main deck, Misty sidled up beside her.

"You're amazing! Will you teach me some swordsmanship?! I'm the best swords person here besides Captain, but you beat him! You're amazing!" Misty babbled on. May chuckled lightly, but was unsure. Should she really help a pirate? Most often, her father and others would end up fighting them, but it couldn't harm them that much, could it?

"Sure, I'll help you." May anwsered after a few seconds. Misty grinned.

"Thanks! You know, what, you're not that bad Princess." Misty chuckled, jogging ahead before May could object to the nickname. She wasn't a princess, her father wasn't the king. He was the Governor. Mat sighed, whatever. Finally getting to the main deck, May was nearly pushed over by a crewman who was carrying something. May shook her head.

"Stupid rude pirates..." May mumbled.

"Lucky that I'm the one who heard that, not any of the crew, they don't take kindly to being insulted." a voice commented behind. Glancing behind her, May saw Drew coming out from below deck, just as she had just done.

"I don't care, let them hear." May shook her head. Drew chuckled.

"Knew you wouldn't last long." Drew stated, passing her. May gasped, starting to follow him.

"What are you talking about?" she snarled.

"Make any comments like that and get the crew to dislike you any more than they do now, and you'll have problems." Drew continued, shrugging. May jogged a bit so she could match his long strides.

"What? Will they take there sword out against me? After I beat their almighty captain?" May mocked lightly as a response to his half threatening tone. Drew chuckled, not a hint of anger on his face as he came to the wheel, where Paul was steering the ship, not yet noticing that they were coming.

"No, but if you're asleep and unprotected, no one will have any regrets if you don't wake up." Drew stated. Paul immediately ducked out of the way as he saw Drew was going to take the wheel. May glared at him defiantly.

"Dirty pirates." May spat.

"Naive princess." Drew parried back without a sword. May huffed and spun on her heel, stalking back in the direction they came, before going below deck.

"A feisty wench, although, we knew that." Paul stated, watching his captain's reaction closely and with narrowed eyes.

"Quite." Drew agreed, chuckling lightly. Paul's eyes narrowed further, if possible, and he turned away, staring at the ocean. This was not good for them....


	5. The First Attack

"Jerk, mean old pirate, dirty, filthy, grimy man." May grumbled to herself.

"I hope you're not talking about me." May jumped as Harley suddenly appeared in front of you, "You're the one that bit me."

"Let it go! Gosh! I mean, if two complete and total strangers came in the middle of the night and tried to take you, wouldn't you bite someone if it meant you might protect yourself?" May spat.

"So far, I haven't seen any good in your personality, you are always snapping at someone." Harley stated, picking at his nails uninterestedly.

"Well I have a reason to! You pirates steal me from my family and bring me on this filthy ship to live the life of a beggar!" May waved her hands in the air.

"Well if I had my way, you wouldn't even have free walk of the ship, you'd be tied in the chambers fed water and bread." Harley growled, taking a step closer. His eyes had gotten darker in anger and May stepped back, hand twitching towards her sword.

"Well then, let's be thankful I'm the captain and not you then, eh?" Drew literally appeared out of nowhere. Harley jumped, and May let out a breath, She didn't know what, but something about Harley crept her out.

"Captain, you see I-"

"Save it Harley." Drew stated, "We're under attack, the Rockets have spotted us and are firing at will, collect your weapons and get on deck." Drew explained. Harley's eyes widened and he nodded, scampering passed them and upstairs. "And you," Drew turned to May, "Are going in your cabin, we don't want our bargaining chip hurt, eh?" he asked. May winced at 'bargaining chip', but shook her head.

"I can fight." May stated solidly.

"Well, what would the crew think if you fought with us? Too much control for you." Drew denied, shaking his head.

"No, I-" May started, but Drew cut her off.

"Didn't want to have to do this." Drew sighed, unsheathing her sword and pointing it at her, using her own weapon against her. Swiftly, he slid behind her and wrapped one arm behind her waist, dragging her backwards until he reached a door, and he opened it, shoving her lightly inside.

"What?!"

"Sorry Maybelle, for your own good, my cabin's the only one that locks from the outside." Drew shrugs, closing the door on her complaints, and locking it. May screamed.

"Jerk!" she yowled, pounding on the door, she now heard the scuffle up on deck, alerting her the fight had come to their ship, the pirates' ship, that is. After pounding incessantly on the door for a few more seconds, May sighed, giving up and turning around. The room she was in was beautifully decored, red and gold with a desk on one side of the room and a bed on the other. She idly wondered why it locked from the outside, but pushed the thought away, getting caught up in examining the many knick-knacks on the wood desk.

She picked up a colorful rock, that gleamed like a gem, but wasn't one. There was also a wood carving of a Roserade; it was painted to look almost identical to the real thing. Looking down the line, there were a lot of Pokémon carvings. May jumped in surprise when she felt something rub against her leg, snapping her out of her examining revere.

"Ah!" she exclaimed lightly, spinning around, only to see a flower pointed at her face. Glancing around the flower, she saw something better than a statue, a real live Roserade.

"Roserade!" it exclaimed defensively.

"No, no!" May shook her head, "I'm not stealing anything, I'm supposed to be here! Drew made me stay here because of fighting going on upstairs!" May squeaked, attempting to stop an attack on her. The Roserade cautiously let its hand fall to its side, eyeing the empty sword holder with distaste. May let out a breath. Now, to May's utter fright, the door did actually open, and someone she didn't recognize from Drew's crew came in. He was a blue-haired man whose eyes were roaming the room hungrily. He spotted May after a second.

"And what do we have here? A lady! Well, I can't be rude, James, co-captain of the Diamond Rocket." The man smirked, holding out his hand. It was at this time that the Roserade turned its attention to James, stepping protectively in front of May, confusing her greatly.

Besides being confused beyond belief, May was also irate. This was Drew's fault. If he hadn't taken her sword, she'd be able to protect herself.

"Silent, eh? And you have your own little Pokémon protector! Ha! A Roserade, she could sell for a high place on the market, even her roses would." James smirked, "Guess I just have to slice them off." He slipped his sword out of his belt. Apparently, the Roserade either didn't understand, or didn't care, and May was leaning towards the second choice.

James had apparently underestimated Roserade. For the moment he took a step forward, Roserade was the one to slice him, with a razor leaf attack. James let out a yelp and stumbled back, falling on his butt. May would have laughed if he wasn't actually hurt. Why add insult to injury?

"Good job Roserade." Drew's voice commented from the doorway, and he glanced at James. "I'd suggest you hurry, your ship is abandoning you." Drew sneered.

"This isn't over Hayden. I'll use your little girlfriend against you somehow." James spat, stumbling out of the room, before starting a jog-run. Drew felt no need to correct him, seeing as he already bolted, and May blushed. Her blush obviously didn't change her attitude much.

"Well, I could have protected myself if you didn't take my sword!" May pointed out smugly. Drew scoffed. "If you didn't want me to have a sword, why did you give me one?" May asked in annoyance. Drew rolled his eyes and tossed her the sword he was carrying, which she now realized was hers. Luckily, she had enough sense to turn around so she caught the hilt, but not the blade. May scowled, and neither seemed to notice Roserade watching them with interest.


	6. Almost Kiss

_**A/N: I'm Ba-ack. Well, since VSC2 went missing, I decided to pick up one of my paused stories, and this one was the most popular, so...here you go!**_

Governor Maple paced in his office, annoyed with the obviously incompetent people he had working for him. All he asked was for them to find his daughter and it had been three days without even the slightest clue of what happened, except for the fact it involved pirates.

"Norman, what if she's hurt? What if they kill her?" his nearly hysterical wife, Caroline, was crying her eyes out at his desk. His younger daughter and son were also here, though not as hysterical as Caroline, both were crying, no matter how much Max tried to hide it.

"Father, she was always the strong one. They had to hurt her to get her away." Dawn informed him. As if he didn't already know that. May was headstrong. That's why he usually only brought Dawn and Caroline with him to fancy dinner parties.

A knock on his door startled them all, and Norman finished his pacing to open it. He blinked. "Brendan, brilliant to see you." He nodded. Brendan nodded in return.

"I swear to you Governor Maple, I am taking out my finest ship and crew to search for the bloody scoundrels who stole Maybelle from you and your family." He smiled slightly, "Then, maybe I'll get the chance to ask for her hand like I planned."

"Yes." Norman agreed wholeheartedly. This man would be able to control Maybelle to some degree, perhaps teach her some manners. "She will undoubtly love you with all her devotion." Norman nodded again.

"You'll make a beautiful couple." Caroline sniffled.

"And beautiful children." Dawn added. Max on the other hand wasn't so happy, but he wasn't about to speak up. Brendan blushed lightly.

"Thank you, that is if she accepts me." Brendan pointed out.

Norman sighed again, that could be the problem. She was independent and stubborn, but she had to fall in love with her savior. Right?

May felt like she was an unruly child, sent to her room for misbehaving, which was exactly what Drew did. He forced her to go to her cabin, but he returned her sword first, so she assumed it wasn't a punishment for anything. She was still annoyed. She dove onto her cot, sprawling out across it. It was not even a minute later when a soft knock hit her ears. She assumed it was Solidad just by the knock, but when she opened the door to find Misty there, she was surprised.

"Well, ready to fight Prin- May?" Misty grinned innocently, rocking back on her heels. May rolled her eyes, laughing.

"Fine." May agreed, going back into the room and grabbing her sword from the spot she placed it next to her bed. She hooked it to her hip as she had it this morning before Drew took it and followed Misty from the room. She had no clue where she was going so she just followed Misty.

"I'm just giving you a warning, I think the only reason I won is because I shocked Drew. If I don't have the element of surprise on my side, I don't think I'll win as easily." May pointed out modestly. Misty shrugged.

"Whatever, you still had some fancy footwork and sword work that I'm interested in." she assured May. May shrugged her consent. After they arrived, much to May's surprise, she managed to beat Misty after a few minutes, but that was only because Misty kept making one same mistake, which May was quick to fix for her.

Then, it took her a little while longer, but she still managed to easily beat Misty. "This is so unfair." Misty grumbled.

"Just keep practicing." May advised.

"Yeah, whatever." Misty growled, storming passed her and out of the room. May shook her head. It's interesting some of the stuff you learn about a person spending some time with them, like if they're a sore loser or not.

"How about a rematch?" a cool voice questioned from behind her. She spun around, and wasn't really surprised to see Drew there.

"Fine." She agreed and drew her sword. Drew copied. They circled each other lithely, before Drew pounced. She parried quickly and leaned under his sword, planning on going straight for his neck, but that didn't happen exactly. His hand shot out quicker than she would expect and grabbed her waist tightly, pulling her to his chest. Her breath let out in a whoosh and she stared into his green eyes.

"Drop your sword." He commanded, and she realized that the prick on her neck was his sword. It took her a second to send the message to her hand, but finally the sword fell to the ground with a clatter. Drew smirked at her as she stuttered out a breath.

"Drew." She squeaked. Drew's smirk fell and he stared at her, dropping his sword from her neck to his side. He leaned in slowly, and her eyes fluttered close, but he swore and ripped away from her and when her eyes snapped open, she realized Paul was in the doorway. His eyes were narrowed and he and Drew had a silent conversation before he spoke.

"I need to talk to you captain." He stated coolly, eyes turning back to their normal size. Drew nodded slightly.

"Coming now." He agreed, throwing May one more look over his shoulder.


	7. Mutiny

"Captain-" Paul attempted to start a conversation with him since they were finally alone.

Drew chuckled. "Paul, we've known each other since we were boys, no one else is around, call me Drew." He shook his head. Drew and Paul had a friendship, but it was more secluded, business came first. That's why Paul was the perfect first mate. Mutiny was the last thing on his mind, actually it probably wasn't on his mind at all.

"Drew…" Paul hesitated and Drew leaned up from his desk chair.

"Paul." Drew's eyes narrowed, "Something troubles you, tell me." He commanded, captain tone back in his voice.

"It's nothing to do with the Rose, believe me." Paul assured him, "It's just…" he hesitated again. Drew sighed.

"Paul, I consider you one of my closest friends, speak what's on your mind, I wish to know." Drew urged. Paul sighed.

"Drew, I'm just not sure about your…relationship with the _captive_." Paul was certain to draw attention to the word, to ensure that Drew hadn't forgotten what May was. Drew stiffened for a moment, hands grabbing his desk, before he relaxed again.

"What about it?" Drew asked coolly, but Paul wasn't fooled. He saw what enemies called 'the green sea fire' that was so Drew burning in his eyes. Paul looked away, unable to keep looking at him.

"Don't get too attached, you are aware we must kill her." Paul growled roughly, spinning on his heel, but he paused at the door, voice softer, more caring, "Drew, even if they agree to our terms, we can't return her without them attacking us." Paul explained. He shut the door behind him. Drew's eyes dimmed, the fire slowly going out. Paul was correct of course. He couldn't get attached without risking all their lives, so he just couldn't get attached.

May shakily picked up her sword, sliding it back into its case. She let out a breath that was little more than a sigh and started towards the direction Misty had gone. Maybe she could try and get Misty to be friends with her. Always good to have someone on your side, and she wasn't so sure that it was going to be Drew.

She started to open a door, but paused when she heard the unmistakable feminine tone of Harley's voice. She was going to close it, but something caught her attention.

"Okay, so everyone knows the plan, correct? We all know that Paul, Misty, Ash, and Solidad will be on Drew's side, so we must just get rid of Drew." He clapped and May stifled a gasp. What were they doing?

"Cap'n, how shall we do that?" someone from the group of assembled crewmen questioned.

"Elliot, you know the chef's boy, told me that he would slip something toxic in Captain Andrew Hayden's food tonight. I'll make a much better captain, you may all trust me." Harley sneered an answer, glancing at something in the back of the room that May couldn't see.

"What about the first mate? He shall think it is his duty to become captain!" someone else shouted.

"Hush, hush. I'll take care of him. There is no need for anyone else to hear our discussion." Harley quieted the crowd that was slowly starting to riot.

"What about that Maple girl?" someone else asked, and May perked up, intent on hearing this. At first all she heard was laughter.

"Oh, believe me. She won't be needed after this. Do you know how many bounties are on Drew's head? Dead or Alive bounties too. We'll be rich boys." Harley growled, before looking down.

"Oh, and by the looks of it, our dearest Captain shall be getting earlier mentioned dinner now." May's eyes widened and she bolted. She had to get to Drew before he touched his food. But it was only for her own safety.


	8. Hair Brush

Drew sat down just as one of the kitchen boys gave him his dinner. "Thank you boy." He nodded and the boy nodded in return, smiling hugely. Paul eyed him warily as he left. The kitchen boys were never that happy with their jobs. He shrugged to himself. Maybe he was just excited to be serving the captain his own private dinner.

"Sir, would you like some?" the boy bowed to him. Paul shook his head in the slightest and the boy shrugged, now fully leaving the room. Drew wasn't sure what it was he was eating, but it smelled okay.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked Paul and Paul looked at the blob thing on Drew's plate in confusion.

"Uh, it was supposed to be fish…" he mumbled and Drew chuckled.

"Well only one way to find out." Drew shrugged, putting a fork into it, just as his door slammed open, causing both he and Paul to jump a foot in the air.

"Lord!" Paul hissed, returning his sword to his case, seeing as he ripped it from his belt on instinct when the door slammed open. But, it was only Maybelle.

"A problem?" Drew asked darkly, not liking how he was nearly scared out of his wits.

"Don't eat that." She snapped in reply, shoving the blob thing off the table and on to the floor. Drew stared at it for a moment before turning his gaze back to her.

"A reason you did that would be nice." Drew nodded and Paul snorted.

"It's poisoned, Harley is trying to kill you and he got a lot of the crew to help him, including some people in the kitchen." May explained.

"What?" Drew and Paul both exclaimed in sync, and Drew stood from his chair.

"You have to trust me! Harley is trying to become captain." May tried to slow her breathing now that she knew Drew wasn't going to be poisoned, and she was going to be safe.

"If a mutiny was in the works, I would know about it. I have eyes and ears everywhere." Paul also turned to Drew, glaring at May. She scoffed.

"Let me guess, your eyes and ears are Solidad, Ash, and Misty right?" May didn't need a real answer, because Paul let out a huff of breath, "Yeah, Harley knows that. He kept it from them." May crossed her arms. Drew looked between them with narrowed eyes.

"Drew, who are you going to believe? Me, your first mate, and one of your best friends, or some captive that you met three days ago?" Paul growled.

"Drew! You have to believe me! This is your life! Even if you don't believe me, just…just run a few checks or something on Harley and the crew. Please!" May looked close to tears and Paul scoffed. Before Drew could answer, the door opened and a grinning Harley stepped in. His grin immediately turned to a frown when his eyes landed on the blob on the floor.

"Captain. Why didn't you eat your dinner?" His eyes narrowed further when they landed on May, who glared at him.

"Maybelle, being a bit of a klutz, knocked it off the table." Drew informed, watching Harley carefully. Harley realized he was under the eyes of Drew, May, and Paul and his own eyes widened. "Well then Captain! Let me get you another!" Harley exclaimed, voice cracking. That's all it took for Drew. He whipped his sword out and held it to Harley's neck. Harley squeaked and backed up, Drew following. They attracted the attention of everyone on the main deck now, who stopped what they were doing to stare.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Drew hissed. "Mutiny has always been on your mind, because you're power hungry. I was aware of it. I just didn't think you had the guts to actually go through with it." He shoved Harley backwards and onto the ground, spinning on his crew. "Did I give you any reason to turn against me? To not have faith in me?" he asked. A mumbled assortment of no's followed, and Paul shook his head. He couldn't believe Maybelle was right. "Exactly. So why did you team with Harley?" Drew asked, only to no answer.

"It doesn't matter there reasons. It matters that when I tell them this, they'll do it. Attack!" Harley commanded.

Nothing.

"I said attack!" Harley screeched again.

Nothing again.

Drew shook his head. "I could do the merciful thing and kill you, or I could go with what I want to do." He smirked, "Enjoy your time on the ship Harley, because as soon as we reach an island, you're being marooned." Scattered cheers went up from the crew, Paul smirked, May smiled, and Harley looked like he was on the brink of hysteria.

"Please, captain! Don't do this!" Harley begged pitifully. Drew tilted his head. May stepped forward.

"I have an idea. Leave him a reprieve. Give him a gun with one shot. He could either kill himself some food, or just kill himself." May was not in a forgiving mood from the multitude of threats she received from Harley. The crew either seemed shocked or impressed, she really couldn't tell.

"Listen to her Cap'n!" a man from the crew yelled, and May realized they were impressed, probably with how evil she could be. Drew stared at May, eyes narrowed.

"Steer us toward an abandoned island, he'll have his gun and be left there." Drew turned around, hearing the cheers that followed that announcement.

"For now, the brig!" Paul commanded, helping hold Harley still as his hands were bound together. May watched in confusion as Drew slammed the door to his cabin closed, and she hurried over there, knocking lightly on the door. When she got no answer, she just opened the door, letting herself in to see Drew on his bed, hands on his knees, rubbing his forehead. He glanced up at her as she appeared, snorting.

"Lovely." he grumbled. May sat down next to him, tilting her head in a questioning manor. Drew understood that and sighed. "It's just...I've been on this ship since I was a little kid, and I get the fact that it is a pirate ship and everything, but sometimes I think that it could be peaceful on land. Without attempts of murder every day." Drew attempted to explain. May shook her head.

"It's boring on land, trust me, I've been there my entire life." she laughed softly, and he sighed slightly, smiling.

"Yes, but I bet if our positions were switched, you would want to stay on land too. You wouldn't want to be known as a dirty, scummy pirate." he pointed out, and he leaned over, running a hand through her hair. She blushed slightly and he laughed. His hand got caught in tangles that had grown there, since May had no hair brush.

"Well, maybe you already have the dirty part down." he teased, pulling his hand back.

"Yes, but you seem very...refined, for a pirate." she pointed out, taking the attention off her and turning it back to his problem. He shook his head.

"That's only because my father felt it was important for his children to have an education and such, not that it helps with the rumors of the great Andrew Hayden!" he laughed bitterly and May shook her head.

"Rumors. Exactly, so you don't have to listen to them. I know for a fact you're not the barbaric, wild pirate-man I heard about." she pointed out, catching his eyes. He leaned forward slightly, and May did the same, eyelids fluttering closed. Drew's forehead touched hers, but this time he had enough sense to pull back when the door slammed open. Paul came tearing in, eyes wild.

"Drew! Erm...you might want to stop the crew...they've created a mosh pit of sorts, tossing the bound Harley around over their heads and there is nothing I can do to stop them." he snickered slightly. Drew shook his head, slight smile gracing his features, while May's eyes just opened and she frowned.

She stood and Drew answered, "Just let them be, scare Harley a bit." he chuckled. Paul shrugged, smirking.

"Aye aye captain." he mock saluted him, stepping back out of the room and shutting the door behind him again. It seemed like he didn't even notice May.

"I'm going to go get some dinner...and make sure it isn't poisoned first." May joked, and Drew nodded, standing and riffling through his desk. She turned to the door, about to leave.

"Maybelle..." he called and she turned around to see him holding something, "Catch." he commanded, tossing the thing to her and she had just enough time to leap forward to get it. She spun it around in her hand, staring at the lovely sea-green hair brush in her hands. Blue gems adorned the sides and she smiled, looking back up to Drew.

"Thanks." she laughed, and he nodded, smiling again and flipping a piece of his own hair out of his eyes. She turned back around and left, going to get food.


	9. Roses of Fear

"This isn't the last time you'll see me Andrew Hayden! I swear that I'll-" Harley's screams were cut off as Paul pushed him off the boat and into the water. He had already removed his sword and put a gun in it's place already of course, and May leaned over the side of the ship to watch Harley swim the 10 yards to land, screaming at them the entire time.

"So dramatic." Misty laughed, leaning next to May.

"He sure made that into one heck of a show." she nodded, and May laughed.

"Well, that's Harley for you." May pointed out and Misty shrugged.

"True enough, so I never asked, when are we gonna continue our lessons, princess?" Misty easily reverted back to the old nickname, smirk overtaking her face. May rolled her eyes.

"Depends on when you stop calling me princess, pirate." Misty burst into laughter at the reply, nodding her head.

"Ok, okay, I see potential in you, even through what I consider to be a horrible insult. Pirate? Really?" Misty asked with a giggle and May frowned, pouting slightly, before laughing herself.

"Okay, I kind of see your point. Pirate isn't really an insult for you, but a compliment." May realized. She was quite amazed to find how different people reacted to the same thing. Drew hated being called a pirate, while Misty thrived on it. "What do you consider a pirate?" May asked, knowing all Drew considered it to be was a vague term. Misty blinked, unprepared for a serious question in all their messing around. She deliberated for a few moments.

"Well, I consider it a person or rebel, who fights for a cause that they believe in." Misty explained, "I believe that the way the government treats women is shameful. In a pirate's world, women can be whatever they want, not just symbols and trophies." Misty's nose wrinkled in disgust and May nodded.

"Wow, I never thought about it that way." May looked down and Misty chuckled.

"Okay May, how about you meet later tonight after dinner to give me some more lessons, and we can talk some more too?" Misty asked, and May looked back up to her, smiling.

"I'd like that." May agreed. She finally found a friend in Misty, it would seem.

"See ya then, princess." Misty snickered, darting away before May could yell at her. May rolled her eyes, turning around and bumping right into a hard chest of someone she didn't know. She 'eep'ed before blushing.

"Excuse me." she stated formally and the man nodded, grabbing her chin. She squeaked, and a hand automatically started to reach for her sword as the man's thumb skimmed across her cheek.

"I love a woman that blushes." he purred at her, and she whipped away, spinning around with a plan to run straight after Misty, only to crash head on to another man she didn't recognize. She 'eep'ed again, glancing left and right to see if anyone was around. Everyone was around, but no one paying any attention to her. She opened her mouth, about to possibly ruin her tough reputation she had by screaming for help (after all she was just one woman with a sword, even she had to admit facing two buff guys at once would be a challenge), but the man behind her immediately wrapped a hand around her mouth.

"Don't even think of it sweet." he cooed, and her thoughts immediatly turned to Harley. Fine, if she couldn't scream, maybe the guy stupid enough to put a hand over her mouth would be. She bit down on his fingers and sure enough...

"OW! WITCH!" All action on the deck stopped and the two men glanced at each other, before taking off.

"Grab them." Drew commanded calmly, locking eyes with May. Soon enough, the two men were both on their knees, staring fearfully up at Drew. Drew's eyes narrowed.

"You are not part of my crew." he stated, seemingly calm. His eyes burned though. The two men gulped, glancing back to each other, but staying silent. "Where are you from?" Silence. "What is your purpose here?" Silence. "Paul, fetch Roserade for me." Paul complied, smirking at the two, who's eyes widened.

May tilted her head, and her confusion as to why the crew had broke into snickers and why the two men now looked as if they would give their life stories if asked must have been clear on her face, because Misty made her presence known.

"Roserade, she is usually used for threat. She has been used for action if necessary, I'm not sure if you've ever seen the amount of damage a pokemon takes after a vine whip or a razor leaf attack, but imagine that on humans. Roserade is a specialist at those two attacks, and can scare any man senseless." Misty snickered, "Who would off thought, that if he gets a red or blue rose to the face, any man would cower in fear? Fear of commitment maybe?" Misty questioned, giggling. May laughed, nodding in agreement.

Soon enough, Roserade stood next to Drew and looked down in what seemed in disdain at the two men. "Roserade..." Drew paused dramatically, knowing he wouldn't have to continue.

"We're from James Rocket's crew!" one peeped. Drew crouched down to their level, to hear what they had to say better.

"He sent us here to get the governor's daughter, so he could reek the rewards of returning her safely to he family." the other explained quickly. Drew frowned, eyes narrow, while the crew murmured amongst themselves. May's eyes widened.

These guys wanted to save her? If she had just gone along quietly with them, she could have been free? She shook her head. For some reason...she didn't want to go back home...

May gasped at her own revelation, just as Drew started to talk. "How did James know she was the governor's daughter?" he gestured to May roughly. They spared glances at one another.

"We've shared enough." one snidely said and Drew's eyebrows rose, and he shrugged, standing back up.

"Fine. Shame you think that way." he turned around as if to walk away, "Roserade, razor-"

"Wait!" one screeched, and Drew smirked to himself, not turning around though.

"Yes?" he asked thoughtfully.

"James met with this...this admiral." one explained. "He's searching for Maybelle, and gave Captain James a drawing, and told him of a high reward for her. James told him everything he knew, and got some money, but said he would work with him to find and save Maybelle." he finished with his sigh. Drew growled slightly, spinning and crouching down to their level again.

"What's the admiral's name?" he asked slowly, and the men shivered slightly.

"W-We don't know. He never said." one squeaked. Drew ground his teeth together.

"He had white hair, and red eyes. And his name..." May let out a bitter laugh, and everyone looked to her, where she was pinching the bridge of her nose, with her arms crossed in front of her. Drew stood, stalking over to her.

"What's his name?" he hissed irritably, and May looked up to him, there eyes locking. "I want to see if I know him." he explained a bit more calmly.

"Admiral Brendan Kass." she nodded to herself.


	10. Surrounded

Drew frowned, surprised he didn't recognize the name. He knew quite a bit about Petalburg's government, for he was always running from it. He sighed, getting back to the task at hand.

"Put them in the brig." he mumbled to Paul as he walked pass. This made a whole mess of things. Now they had a certain time line to get the things they wanted. Money, treasure, the normal things that pirates would want.

"Roserade...?" Drew scowled at the worried pokemon that had followed him to his room. No, she wasn't worried about him. Of course not.

"She's fine Roserade. Just a bit shaken up, I'm sure." he assured his pokemon of May's health. Roserade still frowned, crossing her roses over her chest and glaring at him.

"Rose, rose, roserade." she demanded that he go check on May. His scowl deepened. Why should he?

"No Roserade. She is fine." he waved his pokemon off, turning to his desk.

"Roserade!" the pokemon objected and Drew rolled his eyes.

"I said-" he spun around, and gulped when the rose came into his face, before his eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't dare." he growled, eyes shifting from Roserade's to her arm and back again a few times.

"Rose. Rade." she deadpanned, forcing him to check on May. He sighed, before glaring at the pokemon and pushing her arm away.

"If you're so worried about her, you should check on her." he mumbled, but headed towards the door anyway. It didn't take him long to find May, but she was with Misty, so he held back, watching them.

"So do you get it now?" May asked carefully, not wanting to set her off. Misty nodded eagerly though.

"Yeah, yeah. You just..." she trailed off as she sucessfully attempted that move, but almost beheaded May in the process. Drew lurched forward automatically, but May simply laughed, ducking in time.

"Good job, just next time please don't try to cut my head off next time." May joked and Misty giggled, sliding her sword back in her belt.

"Okay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she hugged May excitedly, and May's eyes widened in surprise as she nearly fell over. Drew snickered into the palm of his hand to not let his presence be known yet.

"Sure..." May nodded warily as Misty backed away, before darting off.

"I'm gonna beat Ash into dust now!" Misty called over her shoulder to May, which was the only explanation she gave as to where she was going. May laughed and Drew chuckled too, not trying to hide it this time.

"Are you trying to get my crew to kill one another?" he asked in amusement and she rolled her eyes, turning to him. She was already used to being surprised by his presence.

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, returning her sword to her belt.

"You've made a friend of Misty..." Drew mumbled more for his own benefit. This couldn't be good either. She had some sort of personality that attracted people. Misty and Roserade both seemed interested in her now. He finally admitted to himself that he was attracted to her, but that didn't change a single thing. She was a captive.

A captive with a sword and her own room on your ship...he reminded himself in his head. May's laughter came to an end and she nodded.

"I know. I was just as surprised as you." May joked, obviously informing him that she had heard him.

"Well, I just came to check on you. Those two huge guys have to be more terrifying then Misty and Harley." he pointed out. May scoffed.

"I managed, didn't I?" she pointed out, having no intention of informing him that she was scared out of her wits. She had silently thanked Harley for not dropping the biting thing, or else she probably wouldn't have thought of it.

"Fine." Drew offered, not interested in an argument now. They stood their awkwardly for a moment, but Drew cut in before it could get too bad. "Roserade forced me to check on you. You've piqued her interest." he informed her dryly, not too happy about that fact himself.

May laughed again, "Well, apparently we bonded when James threatened me." she stated sarcastically. Drew frowned at the reminder of James. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Paul ran into the room and both their heads snapped to him.

"We're surrounded." he gasped out and Drew tilted his head in confusion.

"Explain." he commanded.

"A Royal Navy Ship on one side, The Rocket on the other." Paul snarled.


	11. Traitor in the Mist

May had approximately five seconds to process what he had said and what it meant, before her sword was taken from her waist and placed against her neck. She let out a half strangled gasp as she was pulled into Drew's body, her own sword against her neck and his against her stomach. Even Paul jumped at the quick move from Drew, and his own eyes widened.

It took him a second to remember that Maybelle was indeed a prisoner, not a member of the crew. He shook his head, scowling slightly at his own train of thought.

"Sorry Maybelle. You're playing the bargaining piece." Drew breathed in her ear and she nearly screamed in frustration. Drew spoke louder afterwards for Paul's benefit. "They won't shoot if they know Maybelle's on board." he explained his reasoning and Paul nodded, darting back onto the main deck.

Drew followed, or attempted to, but May refused to move her feet. She was obviously making this as hard as possible for him. "Maybelle." he growled after a few more moments of struggling.

"Andrew." she mimicked him, and would probably be crossing her arms if she didn't worry about the swords. He released a sigh through his nose. Pulling the swords away from her, she grinned and spun around, glad that he wasn't going to treat her like a bargaining piece. That gladness disappeared when he hooked an arm around her waist and threw her over her shoulder. "Drew!" she screeched in surprise, and pounded on his back uselessly. He stifled a chuckle, and as he put her down on the deck, he replaced the swords.

He glanced left and right to realize Paul was right. The thing that shocked him the most though? On the deck of the navy ship, stood a very proud looking James, while next to him stood a smirking Harley. "Harley?" Drew hissed, and Paul glanced to him, nodding.

"They found him, obviously. I don't know how they did so that quickly. They must have been following us this entire time!" Paul growled.

"Who was in the crow's nest?" Drew asked angrily, and Paul opened his mouth, but shook his head.

"Does it matter now? Let's get through this first." he explained, and Drew sighed, knowing that was probably best.

May stared in silent shock at her entire family standing next to Brendan. She completely disregarded James and Harley. They really missed her. This was proof. They went out onto the sea, something that is unheard of for women, just to find her. Her eyes pricked with silent tears at the thought, but she held them back.

"You should give us Maybelle, and we won't shoot!" Brendan called over to them. Drew snorted behind her and she glanced up to attempt to see his expression with out luck.

"He means, 'He won't shoot...until she's off the ship.'" Ash mumbled next to them, and Misty nodded in agreement next to him.

"I need a better bargain!" Drew called back snidely. Norman and Brendan mumbled to each other.

"Come over and we'll discuss this!" Brendan shouted. Drew slowly nodded, but May snorted. He glanced down at her.

"What?" he asked calmly, not loud enough for them to hear.

"Yeah, come over to the ship with me, where you're outnumbered, while your ship is surrounded. They'll just overcome you and shoot the Rose down." May explained, then blinked, realizing she could have just destroyed another chance at freedom. "Awwwww, damn it!" she cursed.

"Not very lady like to curse." Drew snickered, "And thanks for the advice." she growled at him, and he raised his voice, "You come to my ship. It's surrounded anyway, so we couldn't try anything!" he explained his reasoning, while May sulked slightly. More huddling and conversing happened on the Royal Navy ship.

It was finally decided that Harley, James, Brendan, Norman, and three other soldiers would come over, and a plank was placed between the two ships. Everyone watched with narrowed eyes as they made their way over.

"Give me my daughter back!" Norman was the first one to speak as they all made it on to the Frozen Rose.

"Leaving Jessie in command of your ship? How smart is that?" Drew sneered at James, completely ignoring Norman.

"She's trustworthy." James assured him, and he laughed.

"About as trustworthy as Harley was to me?" Drew's eyes shifted over to said former crew mate. Harley rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry Governer Norman, he has no intention to hurt your daughter." Harley started to walk a slow circle around Drew, who followed his every move with his eyes. "He cares for her too much." he assured him, and stopped in front of him, looking Drew straight in the face. "Isn't that right?" he asked smugly. All eyes on the two, curiously, even his own crew. Drew scoffed.

"Really want to test your theory Harley?" Drew spun around, keeping one sword on May's neck and the letting the other free to point at Harley. Harley still smirked though, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"May!" Norman exclaimed, lurching forward slightly as she squeaked from the sudden movement.

"Dad..." she mumbled, eyes filling with tears. She looked away, attempting to hide her face from the pirates on board.

"Release her!" Brendan commanded in a roar, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"And what will make me?" Drew sneered at them. Knowing he had to act the part of a pirate, possibly scare them off.

"I will, captain." Paul hissed, and Drew stiffened in shock when he felt the sword tip against his neck. May stared at him in shock, and the crew was automatically pulling out their own weapons, but the ones who just came onto the Rose didn't seem surprised at all.


	12. Seizing the Ship

"Paul!" Drew spit out the name like it was poison. Paul chuckled.

"You could have made it so easy if you just ate the poisoned food Drew. Harley and I could have simply gotten the rewards." he glanced behind him at the crew. "It was easy enough to convince all of them." he snorted.

Paul made a fatal mistake though. He blinked. Drew took less than a second to have May out of his arms, and a sword pushing Paul's away from his neck. Paul growled slightly, and May glanced towards her family. She gasped.

"Brendan! Your ship!" she exclaimed in shock. Brendan whipped around to face it. James snickered.

"Sorry governor. You'll be staying on the Rose from now on. You and the admiral are not my problem anymore." James scrambled back over the plank that was set up between the ships, Harley close behind. Paul went last, glancing behind him with narrowed eyes at Drew, who caught his stare.

"I trusted you..." he whispered, shaking his head. Paul looked back down for a moment.

"You shouldn't have." he answered back gruffly, making his way to the navy ship. James forced Dawn, Caroline, and Max to cross the plank to the Rose. May threw her arms around her Dad, running from behind Drew.

"Daddy..." she mumbled. Norman shushed her, letting her go to grab Caroline and help her on board. Brendan just gaped silently.

"They stole my ship." he hissed in disbelief. Max came next and looked much too excited to be on a real pirate ship. Caroline pulled him close and May stepped away slightly, watching Dawn struggle.

"Go!" James hissed, shoving her. She glared back at him.

"No!" she spat back. May jumped forward, as if to protect her, even though she was on a different boat, as James' hand raised as if to slap her.

"Dawn!" she cried in worry, but James' hand was caught, by Harley. She released a breath as James spun around to yell at Harley.

"She's stubborn. She just needs..." Harley's voice lowered as they argued quietly.

"Come on Dawn." May begged, patting the edge of the Rose. Dawn looked up at her, fear in her eyes.

"I'm scared." she said, so quietly that May had to read her lips to understand what she said. May shook her head.

"Don't be it's okay. Come on." May begged, watching as Paul came up behind her.

"Go, before they stop arguing, or you won't be leaving this ship." he snapped, sounding only slightly more caring than usual. Dawn glanced back at him nervously, and leaned forward, using his shoulder as a boost to get on the plank. May nearly had a heart attack as she watched Dawn wobble and teeter across the plank. Then she screamed as Dawn fell, falling into the ocean. She resurfaced a few seconds later, but was nearly drowned again by a wave.

"Dawn!" Caroline also cried. What they didn't expect was Drew to swear, pulling off his boots before diving over the side of the railing. Harley and James argument fell silent as everyone watched to see if they would come up.

"Always been to chivalrous for his own good." James laughed, breaking the silence.

"Shut up!" May snarled at him, eyes snapping from the ocean to him. "Cast a line for them!" she shouted to the crew of the Rose, who were just standing there, dumbstruck. They scrambled in surprise, following her orders.

"Well, looks like we know who the new first mate of the Rose will be." Harley called over. May did something very unlady-like, but something she had been dying to do since she first met Harley.

She screamed, "SCREW YOU!" Various gasps followed that sentiments, but also a lot of laughter, even some from Harley's ship.

"Maybelle." Brendan gasped behind her, but her attention was otherwise diverted when they heard a gasping breath come from below the ship. She leaned over the rail to see Drew grabbing the rope that had been dropped down from the ship. The relief that followed when she saw he had a half-drowned, but gasping Dawn under his arm almost made her pass out.

He half pulled himself and Dawn up, half just let other on board the ship pull him up. He nearly tossed Dawn at Norman, spitting ocean water out as he growled.

"Get out of here before they get their bearings and attack us." he spat at Ash, who was behind the wheel. Ash nodded, and others released the sails.

Fortunately, James and Jessie, on either side of them, let them leave. For what reason, it was unclear.


	13. Friends, No

Norman pulled May and Dawn behind him when Drew held a sword out to them. Drew rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath, before sighing.

"Okay, then. FIne. If you want your sword Maybelle," he dropped the sword onto the deck, "Right there." he threw his hands into the air, "No big bad pirate to kill you with it." he grumbled, turning and stalking away. May pushed her Dad's arm away, grabbing her sword and slipping it in her belt, all while jogging after him.

"Wait! Drew!" she exclaimed, ignoring her Dad, who called out to her. She banged on the door of his cabin stubbornly. "Drew!" she whined, "Let me in!" she commanded. A click sounded and when she checked the door again, it was unlocked. She closed the door behind her and locked it. Drew glared up at her from the bed.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he spat, "Oh, that's right, I can't! I can't trust anyone obviously! Harley! Paul!" he yelled and May flinched, before toughening up, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

"Hey! Just because you're upset doesn't mean you should take it out on me!" she shouted at him. Drew's turn to wince apparently. He sighed.

"I know." he managed glumly, "It's just that Paul was one of my best friends and it's just...unexpected that he would turn on me." he attempted to explain what he was feeling, and May managed to understand. May opened her mouth, but she was cut off by a slight knocking on the door.

"Come in." May answered for Drew after getting up and unlocking the door. Misty poked her head in, obviously sympathetic of the sullen captain.

"Uhm, what should we do with the governor and his family?" she asked gently, and May also glanced to Drew for the answer.

"Handle your family Maybelle." he commanded, and she blinked.

"Okay." she agreed, but sent him a look that clearly stated their conversation wasn't over yet. She followed Misty outside of Drew's cabin, and Misty glanced at her.

"I take it he's not holding up well to Paul's treachery?" Misty spat. May shook her head.

"Drew considered him a best friend. I just don't get why he did it. He seemed genuine enough..." May shook her head. Misty snorted.

"They always do seem genuine. It's how they get you." she mumbled. May nodded distractedly, catching sight of her family, who were backed into a corner. No one was actually paying any attention to them. Everyone was just going about their business, but they all stood back to back, eyes scanning everyone who passed carefully, as if they would attack at any moment.

"Calm down!" May laughed, jogging over to them.

"May!" Caroline nearly latched onto her, eyes still darting around nervously. Misty snickered behind and everyone automatically looked to her.

"Hey!" she waved, and then turned her head at someone.

"Hey Misty! I bet I could beat you now! I want a rematch!" Misty burst out laughing.

"Yeah right Ash! You're on!" she turned, glancing behind her at May, "You should probably bring them to our cabin!" was her only advice before she took off after Ash. May nodded, agreeing that was a good idea.

"May...what's going on?" Dawn asked, obviously the most shaken up out of all of them, and shaking. May frowned at her.

"Shoot...I should probably ask Solidad for new clothes for you." she mumbled more to herself. Brendan's eyes flashed.

"You're not actually friends with these barbarians, are you?" he snapped. Norman glanced at him worriedly, knowing this could break a possible future engagement apart at the seems. May crossed her arms, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"As a matter of fact-" she hissed, but Norman cut her off, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Of course not!" he laughed anxiously, "Right darling." he gave May a look that clearly said, 'Agree with me, now.' May sighed.

"Of course Father." she agreed calmly.

A few feet behind her, Drew's eyes flashed and he spun around, heading back to his cabin.


	14. Pushed Away

May had gotten Dawn new clothes, and had made room for her entire family and Brendan in her cabin. Now, she was sneaking away from them to finish her conversation with Drew.

Knocking on his cabin door, a few seconds later, Drew opened it, looked down at her, then slammed it shut. May jumped backwards in surprise, consistently knocking again.

"What do you want?" he snarled, when he opened the door a second time.

May crossed her arms, scoffing. "Don't take that tone with me." she commanded like a mother scolding her child. She pushed passed him and sat down at his desk.

"Get out." Drew commanded, not closing the door. May's eyes widened.

"Why?" she asked in surprise. Sure, Drew wasn't always the nicest to her, but he was never like this.

"I don't want you here." Drew stormed over to her, grabbing the top of her arm and dragging her to the door. "I don't need you here." he shoved her outside, glaring at her still, "And I definitely don't trust you." he finished, slamming the door in her face.

May stood there gaping like a fish for a moment, for she truly didn't know whether to be angry or sad.

She choose anger.

-The Next Day-

May leaned up in her bed, glancing around the room at the various people.

She had shared her tiny little bed with her Mom and Dawn. Max was sprawled out on the desk she had, and her Dad looked uncomfortable in the chair for the desk, while Brendan simply lounged on the floor.

She rolled out of bed, carefully landing on the floor, to insure no noise would come from her. She got her sword and strapped it on her waist, tiptoeing passed everyone.

She winced, freezing as her door creaked loudly when she opened it. May glanced around, but the only one who seemed affected, was Dawn, who rolled over. May released a sigh of relief.

She had agreed to meet Misty again this morning, and she was pretty sure her family wouldn't be happy if they realized she was teaching a pirate how to sword fight.

After getting a few feet from her closed bedroom door, she released a breath of relief, walking leisurely to where she was supposed to meet Misty.

As she passed Drew's closed cabin door, her thoughts from last night came back to her and she bristled. Her once calm walk turned into a stomp as she met Misty.

"Hey." Misty greeted, "I hope you don't mind I brought Ash along." she gestured behind her to the teen, who smiled and waved.

"Fine." May grunted, pulling out her sword, "Let's spar." she commanded, and Misty uneasily complied, knowing something was off.

After a few seconds of silent sparring, May broke the silence. "You know what Misty!" May sliced down with her sword, "You're right. The ones who seem genuine always do get you." she snapped, nearly cutting off Misty's arm. Misty stumbled backwards, while Ash snickered.

"Jeez, May, whoever you're mad at, get them in here to fight with you. Don't take it out on me." May slid her sword back in it's holder, brooding.

"I mean, he's nice to begin with, if not a bit cocky, but all of the sudden he treats me as if I'm evil! I mean I get it he might not have the greatest faith in trust anymore, but don't take it out on me!" she ranted, and Ash watched in puzzlement. Misty was smart enough to understand though.

"Maybe he's just upset. I'm sure it's just a phase. In case you haven't noticed yet, his mood can change," Misty snapped her fingers, "Just like that."

"Who?" Ash finally mumbled, and Misty waved him away.

"Go talk with someone else." she commanded, nearly pushing him out of the room. Ash objected, but she shut the door in his face, which reminded May of the way Drew did it.

She winced, but Misty didn't see because she wasn't facing her. Soon enough, Misty turned around and stared May down, who fidgeted.

"What did Drew do?" Misty asked knowingly.

May grumbled something under her breath, but then explained. "Well, earlier yesterday, he was stubborn, sure, but he started to talk it out with me. We never got to finish, because I had to take care of my family, but I went back there later, and he was a total jerk to me. He said, 'I don't want you here, need you here, and I don't trust you.'" May complained. Misty just nodded in agreement, but was truly confused.

"Did you do anything that could get him angry?" Misty asked.

"No!" May immediately answered, and Misty bit her lip, shaking her head.

"I don't know May." was all she offered, "He confuses me beyond belief, but I know he wasn't telling the truth. I know he wants you here, needs you here, and trusts you." Misty explained softly. May snorted.

"Yeah, well he has a really weird way of showing it." May mumbled over her shoulder as she left, and Misty frowned.

_**A/N: Surprisingly these story, only has about ten chapters left according to my story map I made. 11 with a possible epilogue. Interesting.**_


	15. Cleared Up

Drew rolled his eyes at the incessant pounding on his door.

"Go away May." he commanded coldly, already knowing who it was. Apparently though, he was wrong.

"It's not May, Captain!" Misty's voice sounded hostile, which confused Drew enough for him to open the door to find out why.

Indeed, when he opened the door, he was immediately shoved aside, and the door slammed behind Misty as she made her way in.

"You're not pushing me out Drew, like you did to May!" Misty spat and he nearly groaned aloud, but suppressed it. Of course May would go blabbering on to Misty, but why? It's not like they were _friends_.

"I would never push one of my own crew out Misty." he swore to her, and instead of scowling angrily at him, she just frowned unhappily. Misty's hands plopped gently against her hips as she tilted her head.

"I try to understand you Captain, but I never can. You're just unpredictable. One second you can be calm and nice, then next volatile and hostile." she shocked her head, crossing her arms over her chest now.

"I think you should know May is really angry with you, but I can see through it. She is really upset that you shut her out for no apparent reason." Misty explained and he laughed dryly.

"No apparent reason? Ask her if she considers any of us friends, because she doesn't." Drew pointed out and MIsty's eyes widened, and her arms dropped to her side. Drew, in a separate part of his mind, noted that Misty expressed herself with her arms a lot.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked, slight confusion, hurt, and suspicion in her voice. Drew would have laughed bitterly again, but he figured Misty wouldn't believe him if he did, so he stopped it before he could.

"I heard her talking to her family, and they asked if she trusted us, if she considered us friends, and she said she didn't." Drew explained, and Misty's expression immediately cleared of all worry and bad emotions. To Drew's annoyance, she started cracking up laughing.

"Are you joking? That's why you're mad at her?" Misty managed between giggles, but looking at Drew's completly serious face, she realized he wasn't joking, which only caused her laughter to get louder.

"Oh come on Drew! Of course she isn't going to tell her family she trusts us! They'd think her insane!" Misty pointed out. Drew's brow furrowed slightly, but he shook his head.

"So, you're saying she's ashamed of us? Which, in case you didn't realize, is just as bad." Drew persisted, and Misty finally sobered from her laughter, rolling her eyes.

"Drew, you're majorly over-reacting to this." Misty soothed him. "May does trust us, and she has every right to be ashamed of us." Misty shrugged, blase, "We're pirates after all." she pointed out calmly and Drew's eyes flared. He pointed to the door.

"Get out." he snarled, and Misty knew better than to mess with him, holding her hands up in surrender as she complied.

"Yes Captain." her stubborn streak caused her to spit out that last word of her shoulder.

May had returned to her room, only to find her family awake, and scared out of their minds. They really were too much.

"Oh May! We were so worried!" Caroline cried, pulling her into a hug. May discreetly rolled her eyes, but when Dawn tilted her head, she realized not discreetly enough. Luckily though, she let it drop.

"I'm fine, Mom. You don't have to stay in this room. They let me walk wherever." she pointed out, and heard a snort to her left as she was released from her Mother's grasp.

"Maybelle, you must be more careful. These people are barbaric." Brendan scolded her, and May scowled. She had her parents to yell at her, she didn't need him to. He really was all focusing on the stereotypes of a pirate. Drew had explained to her before how everyone thought they were barbarians, and Brendan had even used that exact word to describe them.

"That is true." Norman agreed and May sighed, nodding her head in agreement.

"I will father, admiral." she agreed curtly, refraining from going through the motion of curtseying.

Someone knocked on the door behind them, and they all jumped. Brendan cautiously opened the door, hand on the hilt of his sword. May's eyes widened with panic as she saw Misty there, smirking and leaning against the threshold of the door.

"I've come to talk to Maybelle." Misty stated quietly, "Alone." she added forcefully. They all eyed her warily, and Norman grabbed May's wrist as she started to walk to Misty, plainly telling her not to go.

Misty shrugged and rolled her eyes, moving forward towards May. She was immediately stopped by Brendan and rolled her eyes, ducking under his arm hastily. May held up her hands to her Dad and Brendan as they both lurched forward to protect her. She leaned forward slightly, and Misty whispered into her ear.

"I figured out why Drew is mad at you. He heard you talking to your family about how you aren't friends with us. How you don't trust us." Misty explained cooly, and May snorted, pulling back.

"You're joking right?" May asked in disbelief. Misty smirked slightly, shaking her head. May laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

"He's overreacting!" she managed.

"He thinks you're ashamed of us." Misty explained, and May groaned, rubbing her eyes. Then, a sort of firm resolve fixed in her eyes and Misty snickered, knowing something interesting was about to happen, stepping back slightly.

May smiled happily, turning to Brendan with her hands clasped calmly in front of her. "Brendan, yesterday, you asked if I was friends with these pirates and I said no." she nodded happily and Brendan tilted his head curiously, unsure where she was going with this. "I lied." she stated calmly and his eyes widened.

"Misty, this girl here, is becoming one of my closest friends. I have friends in Ash, one of the crew members, Solidad, another female pirate, and the infamous Andrew Hayden, the captain of this ship." May nodded happily, then shrugged, "Come on Mist. Let's go see Captain Moody." May grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the room, before her family could jump out of their shock.


	16. Proposal and A Kiss

"That was great." Misty giggled, and May nodded in agreement, content smile on her face.

"It was, and it confused me for a moment. But it felt so good to go out against them. To not be the perfect little girl they expect." May confided in her. Misty giggled again and nodded, but immediately sobered from her laughter as she looked over May's shoulder.

"I'll leave you to it." she clapped May on the shoulder, and without further explanation, turned away and darted off. "Wha?" May turned around, to see Drew talking with some of his crew members. "Oh." she managed, but realized Misty was already gone.

She nodded to herself and decided to pull a 'Drew' and scare him. She leaned backwards into the shadows, waiting for Drew to be finished talking. After a few moments. the other crew members left, obviously to go do a few orders Drew gave them. Drew paused on his way out the door, and May saw her opportunity.

She stopped when he started to speak though, "What are you doing Maybelle?" She jumped and then scowled.

"Oh come on! I was silent! How did you know I was here?" May asked in annoyance.

"I knew you were there since I saw Misty and you walk in. Now, what do you want?" he asked impatiently, one hand on the door knob, but glaring at her. May shook her head.

"Drew, Misty and I talked, and you're wrong. I'm not ashamed of you. In case you didn't notice, my Dad sort of answered for me when Brendan asked if we were friends." she pointed out and Drew pulled away from the door, spinning to face her.

"But you didn't disagree." he pointed out, tone dangerously low, eyes flashing. May sighed, running a hand through her hair. She glanced down at the floor, but dragged her gaze back up to Drew's face, forcing herself to look him in the eyes.

"Drew, I'm not ashamed of you." she repeated, "I was just worried what my family would say. It's true I should have just told them the truth then and there." she admitted and Drew tilted his head.

"What is the truth?" he asked, too curious for his own good. May steeled her nerves, and knew that she probably shouldn't admit this to him or herself, but felt the need to.

"Well, the truth is that I'm friends with the legendary Andrew Hayden, and my heart is telling me I might be growing fonder and fonder of him as the minutes go on." she stated boldly, before dropping her gaze to the floor yet again. "And, that I may be having feelings that don't classify as 'friendly', but as something more." she finished. Drew certainly wasn't expecting that, and it was silent for a few moments as he processed all of what she just said.

"Maybelle..." he muttered, moving forward, and she glanced up just in time to be shoved backwards into the hallway wall. Drew leaned down, keeping his hands on her shoulders, eyes screwed tightly shut. There foreheads pressed together and their breath mingled.

"Drew..." May breathed back, keeping her eyes wide open. Drew's eyes flickered open for a moment, deep green meeting her blue eyes. And, since May was all for being bold at the moment, she pulled one of her arms from her grasp enough that she could reach around and grab the back of his neck, pulling his lips towards her.

The kiss was everything May expected, if not more. Drew released her other shoulder so his hands could travel down to her hips. Moments passed in the passion and need of this kiss. When the kiss was broken, they stared at each other for a few seconds, still in the same embrace, before their lips met in another kiss. The second kiss was slower, and more loving. The perfect ending.

Brendan snorted in disgust, heading back to May's cabin.

-A/N: ABOUT DAMN TIME! WOOOOOO!-

"These barbarians have converted May! She'll go back to her old self once we get off this blasted ship!" Norman swore to Brendan, who simply pouted and crossed his arms. Ever since he had chased May and Misty out of the room, he had seemed all sullen and downcast. It seemed like some idea reached Brendan then and he brightened.

"Of course, we shall not being on this ship forever. She'll be forced to forget about her little pirate 'friends' as they are hung by the noose." Brendan hissed, then smiled. "Governor Norman, if you allow, I would wish to ask for May's hand when she gets back." Various gasps ran through the room, and Norman panicked.

"Uhm...you may if you wish, but don't you think it's better to wait until we reach land...?" he floundered for an excuse, really thinking, 'to wait until I have a chance to tell her to accept your proposal.'

"No, I don't." Brendan chirped, just as the door opened, "Ah Maybelle!" he cheered, and she jumped. Her eyes widened, obviously not expecting such an enthusiastic return. She expected to be scolded, not praised.

"Yes Admiral?" she squeaked and leaned back slightly when Brendan approached her. He grabbed her hand, but didn't get down on one knee yet.

"I have something very important to ask her. I was going to wait until after we got off this ship, because as I'm sure you're aware, we won't be on here forever." he pointed out, then continued, "I mean, I'm completely fine with you being 'friends' with these pirates, because eventually they're going to have to leave or be killed by the law." he stated, seeing May's pondering look, he smirked to himself.

"I suppose that's true." she mumbled more to herself than Brendan. He nodded, and got down on his knee, causing her to glance down at him sharply. "What are you doing?" she asked, panicked.

"Asking the question I wished to ask." he continued smoothly, "You see Maybelle, I've fallen in love with you at first glance, and as we spent more time together, it grew. So, I ask, will you marry me?" he finished proudly. May glanced to him to her father to her mother and to her siblings. All of her family were either begging her to say yes, or giving her a glare, commanding her to say yes.

"C-Can I think about it?" she questioned, managing a mix. Brendan nodded cheerfully.

"Of course." he stood, dusting off his knee and nodded happily. She turned around and ran out the room, but he didn't care. He had planted the seeds of doubt, now they just had to grow.


	17. Idea of a Fight

May leaned against the rail of the deck, glad it was early enough in the morning that not too many people were up.

She had quite a lot of things to think about. She had went back to her room to sleep of course, but late enough that everyone in her family was already asleep, and then gotten up early enough to wake before the others and then snuck out.

Drew and she were on the verge of something. But Brendan had a point. They weren't going to stay there forever, and even if they returned, Drew was a pirate. He couldn't stay. He probably wouldn't even want to stay. Pirates were hunted, by pirate hunters, by soldiers, by everyone... She shook her head.

All of that may have been true, but was she really going to just settle because the times would be rough. She paused. Things between her and Drew were never official, but she figured it was obvious by now.

As if reading her thoughts, May jumped slightly as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She spun around, leaning back on the railing and nearly jumping when she felt cold, but Drew simply kept her in place by put an arm on either side of her. He smirked and she blushed.

"Maybelle Maple. Daughter of the governor of Petalburg." Drew snapped his tongue, shaking his head. "Never, ever did I think..." he trailed off, leaning closer and she grinned, but they were interrupted.

"Well, well, well, look at this. How shocking." Drew ripped away from her, glancing behind her and she spun around.

"How did they sneak up on us." he hissed, staring at the Rocket and the navy ship in shock. Harley waved at them, smirking.

"Everyone up!" Drew roared, diving into the ship hull to wake up his crew. May stared at them in pure shock.

"Innocent little Maybelle Maple is being played by the Pirate King." James taunted and May scowled. She wasn't paying any attention to him though, but glaring at Paul, who was avoiding her eyes.

"What's going on?" Brendan nearly barreled into May, with her family close behind. Apparently, they were awaken by Drew's screams.

"I think that's kind of obvious." she hissed, gesturing with her head to James and the navy ship. Brendan's eyes darkened and he scowled at them, as May had been doing before.

"You horrible ruffians! Give me my ship back this instant!" he commanded, and May nearly groaned.

Yeah, because asking for your stolen ship back from pirates was really going to work. Apparently, a lot of the men on the other ship agreed with her, because they all started laughing at Brendan. May noticed Paul just rolled his eyes though.

May glanced behind her when she heard a ton of thundering footsteps, seeing Drew with his crew in tow. James and his group sobered from their laughter though. Drew and James silently glared at one another.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Brendan murmured in May's ear.

"Thanks!" she whispered back sarcastically, before turning her attention back to James and Drew.

"Don't worry Hayden, we won't attack..." James grinned mischievously, "Yet." he added.

May jumped as she felt Brendan attempt to comfort her by rubbing the tops of her arms. She thought about his proposal and hesitantly leaned back in him and could nearly feel the smugness radiating off of him.

"I won't let this random, relentless taunting continue." Drew declared. "This will come to an end." he decided.

"Oh really? Two ships on one? Sounds fun."

Everyone's head swiveled to the other ship approaching, the original Rocket.

May got her first look at the notorious Jessie Rocket on the bow of her ship. Her magenta hair curved slightly and she was wearing an almost classic Captain Hook outfit in black and red.

May pulled away from Brendan, trotting up to Drew. "Are she and James together? How was it possible that both of them controlled the Rocket at the same time? Or was one of them just a first mate or something? I never really got that." May probably would have continued to drabble on, if Drew hadn't shushed her.

"You want to know, then you have to let me answer. Give me one second." he muttered under his breath to her, then his voice got louder, "Of course not Jessie. I know you're not here to fight, but for a friendly visit." he glanced pointedly at Ash, who was behind the wheel. "Move out!" he thundered, turning his attention to May, and now Dawn, who had crept up and grabbed May's arm with wide eyes. Drew snorted slightly and May laughed, hugging Dawn.

"Yes Drew, can't you tell you're terrifying?" she asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Dawn is just acting as any prim and proper lady would in this situation." Norman hissed as the rest of May's family came up behind them.

"Thank you." Dawn squeaked to Drew, who looked at her in confusion, "You saved me from drowning." she elaborated. Norman begrudgingly nodded.

"Yes, thanks, but Brendan was handling it." Norman spat, refusing to be too kind. May snorted.

"Yes by the time he got his boots and fancy clothing off, Dawn would have been buried in the sand." May defended, feeling angry at her Dad for being so unfair.

Drew didn't let any of his smugness show, but you could feel it. Norman groaned slightly, glancing nervously at Brendan.

"It's true." Brendan pointed out modestly, he smirked slightly, "Hello Captain Hayden, I'm Brendan Kass, Maybelle's fiance." he introduced himself, holding his hand out for Drew to shake.


	18. They will Fight

Drew either didn't care or he was quite a master at hiding his emotions, for he simply nodded, shaking Brendan's hand, "Captain Andrew Hayden, how pleasant to meet you." he replied, and May noticed his fiery green eyes and panicked.

"Actually, Brendan, in case you don't forget, I never answered you." she hissed, glaring darkly at him. She had a feeling that he knew exactly what he just did.

When he looked back at her with a smirk on his face, she knew her idea was right. Brendan somehow knew or figured out about her and Drew's almost relationship. Her eyes widened after a moment, and she realized that all that talk about the pirates being forced to leave or be killed was done on purpose. Although, that was all true... She nearly groaned out loud, but refrained. She was so confused.

"True Maybelle, you never answered me, but once we get back on land..." Brendan shrugged, letting the comment hang in the air.

"We're outnumbered by the two Rockets and their ships, but I have allies. I'm going to get them to team with us. Then, we're going to take out the two Rockets, then I shall return you to Petalburg port." Drew informed them, nonchalantly relieving the awkwardness that had appeared. Norman looked at him suspiciously.

"Why?" he dared to question and Drew snorted.

"Believe it or not, I didn't want this to happen." he informed them, "I wanted more money to run my ship, but this is just too difficult." he shook his head. Norman nodded slowly.

"We will let you leave Petalburg Port without problems, if you give no fight." Norman declared. Drew nodded to him.

"Thank you." he offered. "And Maybelle, about your questions, yes, Jessie and James Rocket are married, and they ran the ship together. They were harmonious enough that they could have two captains." he explained. Brendan snorted.

"Well that makes no sense, they should have gotten another ship, and just teamed together." he explained. May, since she was still angry at him, countered.

"Well, now they have one, don't they Brendan? Yours!" she stated in fake enthusiasm. Brendan glanced at her, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Yes, but Maybelle and I both know you'll get it back with your bravery and strength!" Norman immediately evened out May's bad remark. May groaned.

"Dad, I'm serious! Enough! Let me talk for myself! If you want to know what I think, I don't think Brendan will get his ship back!" May snapped at him, and Norman looked to her in stunned anger. Drew was biting his tongue to stop from laughing at the scene in front of him. Dawn wore the same expression as Max, for they both burst into laughter. Caroline simply shook her head. Brendan spun around, stomping off back towards May's cabin, obviously embarrassed, and Norman chased him, probably for damage control. Caroline dragged Max behind both of them, and it left Dawn staring between her family and May.

"Join the dark side, we're more fun." Drew joked, and that seemed to break Dawn's decision, she skipped over to May's side.

"Hi! I don't think we've been formally introduced. I know you're Drew, but I'm Dawn, May's sister!" she curtsied to him, while he stared at her as if she grew a second head. She blushed as she realized both May and Drew were looking at her funnily. "Right, pirates." she mumbled to herself.

"Misty, and hey, maybe now I won't call you Princess Priss May! Now Dawn can have the nickname!" Misty galloped over to them, and Dawn jumped slightly, before her nose crinkled in distaste.

"Princess Priss?" she managed, and between the look on her face and the tone of her voice, they all burst into laughter.

"Oh! That was so much fun today! And is it just me, or does Misty like Ash?" Dawn staged whispered to May as they walked back to their cabin. The entire day had been spent with Drew, Misty, and eventually Ash and Solidad. Dawn had a blast, and seemed so shocked about it.

"Yeah, I though she was going to chop your head off with a sword when Ash kissed your hand." May reminded her and Dawn laughed.

"He was only introducing himself!" she defended, and May shook her head, opening her cabin door. Brendan nearly ran into her on his way out, but bid her no apology, simply looking away and stalking off.

"Good, maybe he finally got the message..." May mumbled low enough for Dawn to not hear. They walked in the room, staring straight at a livid Norman.

Drew choked slightly as he was slammed against the hallway wall. Brendan's hand gripped his neck and he glared darkly at him. Drew returned his glare with equal ferocity.

"Now listen here Andrew Hayden! You will stay away from my fiancé, Maybelle Maple! did I make that clear enough for you pirate?" Brendan spat at him. Drew sneered at him, kicking his knee. Brendan gasped, automatically releasing Drew's neck and stumbling back a few steps.

"I think she made it perfectly clear that she is not your fiancé." Drew pointed out, than laughed, which sounded quite evilly. Brendan couldn't help the bit of fear that crept up his spine as he stared into the legendary green fire of Drew's eyes. "I'll fight for her. I'm a criminal, I've fought for tints I wanted my entire life. I want her, and some fancy little Admiral isn't going to stop me." he jeered and Brendan steeled his nerves, straightening from his previous position of clutching his knee.

"Then may the best man win, eh barbarian?" Brendan hissed and Drew raised his head arrogantly.

"He will, scum." Drew finished with a easy spin and stalked down the hall. Brendan glared after him.

"Rose, roserade." Brendan spun around in surprise, coming straight into contact with a pair of roses. He stumbled back a few feet.

"O-Ok now, g-good little Rosie!" he squeaked.

"Face it Dad! I'm not the perfect little bride!" May screamed.

"But you will be!" Norman parried. They had been going on like this since May and Dawn had stepped into the the room, and everyone else was too afraid to get into the middle of them.

"I will never marry Brendan!" May decided, and Norman stared at her with barely surprised anger, "I don't want a normal life! I want adventure and fun!" May begged.

"Maybelle Maple, you will never talk that way again!" Norman hissed, and that got May mad again. There arguing was paused when Brendan stumbled into the room. May's eyes widened in shock.

"What happened to you?" she could help but ask, seeing the various scratches around his face and arms. Brendan grumbled something, but all May could understand was 'roses hurt'.

**_A/N: Brendan was just starting to annoy me too much, I had to take some anger out on him. :)_**


	19. A Mission and A Choice

The next morning, May wasn't lucky enough to get up early enough to sneak out. She had managed to make it off the bed and away from her Mom and Dawn, and she had slipped by Brendan and Max on the floor, but she got to her desk chair, thinking her Dad was asleep, when it spun around to reveal a wide awake Norman.

"Dad." she stated, not even surprised he planned something like this. Norman shook his head, silent and she sighed. "It's my life Daddy, you have to let me live it the way I want." she gently declared.

"I know, my wildfire." May smiled at the old nickname, "But, I just want what's best for you and I sincerely think that's Brendan." May's smile dropped.

"I think what's best for me is what makes me happy." she pointed out and Norman nodded.

"And Brendan will." he stressed that, "He will be able to support you and as you grow up, you will learn to love him." May opened her mouth to object, but Norman held up his hand to silence her, "I don't want to argue with you. I won't do that again. I think the reason I keep pushing you to accept Brendan is because I was in the same position as him." May waited for him to continued, but he didn't.

"What?" she finally asked.

"I was Brendan. I loved your mother, but she had no feelings for me. She accepted my proposal anyway, and now she loves me back." Norman explained and May gasped.

"Although sometimes it's hard to." they both looked back to the bed, seeing Caroline leaning up and glaring at Norman.

"Norman! I told you! We are letting her make her own choices. If she doesn't want to marry Brendan, then she won't marry Brendan." Caroline declared and May grinned. Norman waved her off.

"We'll discuss it later." Norman gave her a warning glance, but Caroline shook her head.

"No, we won't Norman. This is my daughter. She's your daughter too, but as her Mother I have the larger say than you." Caroline declared passionately, "She didn't sit in your stomach kicking you for nine months. So you don't get the say!" she growled, and Norman shook his head. "Good god! Norman! You are the most stubborn man in the world!"

"May will marry Brendan, because she knows she'll learn to love him. Right May?" Norman glanced around, "May?"

May shook her head, glad she could dart out of the room while her Dad was distracted. She could go without knowing that little piece of family history, although knowing her Mom backed her in everything she did was a plus.

The entire day she spent just wandering around the ship, avoiding her family, occasionally bumping into Solidad or Ash. Now, it was sunset. She turned a corner and nearly ran face first into Misty.

"Hey! Watch where your- Hi May!" Misty cut off mid-sentence, seeing as it was her friend.

"Hey Misty." May laughed, and Misty grabbed her arm, dragging her back the way she came. "Where are we going?" she asked, literally being dragged backwards by the arm. She spun around so she was walking forward, and looked to Misty.

"Drew asked me to come to his cabin. I'm sure he wouldn't mind seeing you." she winked and May couldn't help the blush that heat up her face. "Hahahaha, that's what I thought." Misty nodded, and came to a stop outside of Drew's cabin, banging loudly on the door.

"Oh, I wonder who that could be." came the sarcastic call from inside, "Probably the only person on this ship that hates my door." May snickered as the door opened and his eyes automatically locked on her.

"May!" he exclaimed, surprised, "Come on in." he held the the door open for her and she nodded, releasing herself from Misty's grip. Drew followed May, leaving the door open for Misty.

"Oh, Hey Misty, how's it going? Come on in, buddy. Are you doing good? You doing okay?" Misty mumbled sarcastically to herself, annoyed at being basically ignored. She came inside, slamming the door behind her. Drew didn't even glance her way.

"Hey, what's up? What are you doing here?" Drew asked May. May laughed, pointing at Misty.

"She forced me to come." she explained. Drew blinked, looking to Misty.

"Oh. Hey Mist. I didn't see you there." he flicked the hair out of his face, blushing lightly.

"I noticed." Misty nodded, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "What did you want me here for? I'll get out of here, so you two can have your love fest." Misty laughed, correctly guessing thier new relationship. They both blushed, but didn't deny her.

"Actually, it's good you're here Maybelle." Drew leaned against his desk.

"Of course, it's always good when Maybelle is around." Misty smirked, and Drew gave her a dirty look.

"As I was saying," he cleared his throat, "The Rockets have two ships, but I know of an ally of mine who despises the Rockets. Ash is already steering the ship to LaRousse City, which means you should tell your parents there has been a slight change of plans. LaRousse is closer than Petalburg, otherwise we'd drop you off there first." May's stomach lurched uncomfortably at the thought, but she nodded, "I don't want to risk the Rocket's intercepting us and someone getting hurt." he explained.

"Okay, so that still doesn't explained why you wanted me and May in here." Misty exclaimed impatiently. Drew chuckled.

"I need a small team of people who I trust and have talent to come with me to the Ally's ship to bargain with the captain." he explained, "That's you two."

"I'm in." Misty immediately exclaimed, and May slowly nodded.

"Me too." she agreed, and Drew grinned at both of them.

"Okay, we'll reach LaRousse by nightfall, so here." he grabbed two black cloaks, handing one to Misty, and one to May. He held up his own cloak and a black hat with a dark green feather. "We'll go incognito. So, get prepared, we'll arrive in less than fifteen minutes." he explained.

"Way to cut it close." Misty scowled, darting out of the room. May smiled at him, nodding.

"I better go tell my parents where I'm going." May backed up slowly, and Drew smiled at her, walking forward and kissing her forehead.

"Okay, see you in a few." he agreed and May blushed slightly, spinning around and jogging out of the room. As she headed towards her cabin, she slung the cloak over her shoulders. She opened the door to her room, and everyone automatically looked up to her.

"What are you wearing?" Brendan asked in disgust, looking her up and down. May frowned at him.

"I'm going with Misty and Drew on...a mission in LaRousse. They said after this we'd be returning to Petalburg." May explained, walking across the room to grab her sword and hook it on her belt.

"Like hell you are." Norman growled, standing in her way. She rolled her eyes, ducking under his arm.

"This isn't your choice father." she stated icily. Norman growled, spinning around to face her. She froze in the doorway at the next thing he said.

"If you go with them, I'm disowning you as my daughter." Norman declared.

"Norman!" Caroline objected. standing.

"Dad!" Max and Dawn also said in sync.

"Dad, please don't make me choose." May begged, looking back to his stony face.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm making you do. Your choice. Your family or those filthy pirates you call friends." he crossed his arms, tapping his foot. May heard a pair of gasps and spun around to see Drew and Misty in the doorway, obviously having heard what Norman just said.

"Well?" Norman asked impatiently.

May glanced to her family, looked back her friends. She looked at her sister, Dawn. She looked at the girl who grew to become her sister, Misty. She looked Brendan in the eyes, seeing his pleading look. She looked Drew in the eyes, seeing no hope, just acceptance. May glanced between them once again.

May made her decision.

**_A/N: How evil am I? MUHAHAHA! Anyway, sorry for the lack of an update. My computer was screwed up, plus I have all Honors classes, and an hour and a half of homework per class per night! ARG!_**


	20. A Possible Ally

"I can't believe you're making me choose like this Dad." May shook her head, looking down at the ground.

"You needed to break away from your pirates at some time. You know we are spliting at Petalburg and you will never see them again." Norman growled, and Brendan nodded in agreement. To everyone's shock, May started shaking, and then burst into laughter.

"Maybelle! This is serious!" Brendan hissed. May shook her head, attempting to stop laughing.

"I-I'm sorry!" she managed, "I-I know, I c-can't help it." she giggled. After a few tense moments of everyone staring at her, she finally stopped laughing, and straightened, shaking her head with a huge smile on her face. She turned to her Father.

"Daddy." she shook her head again. giggling slightly, "I do need to break away."

"Thank you!" Norman grinned like the cat that got the cream as May turned to Drew and Misty, who were both frowning.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved over her shoulder, "Come on you guys." she grabbed Misty's arm, and Drew's hand. Norman scowled, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back.

"May, when I said you had to break away, I meant now!" he rolled his eyes exasperatedly. May also rolled her eyes.

"That's what I'm doing. I'm breaking away from my overbearing, controlling Father." she pulled away from him, about to leave the room, but paused in the doorway, glancing back at him. "And, if that's not clear enough for you, let me clean it up for you. I choose the filthy pirates that I call my friends." she waved to him, walking coolly out the door.

She continued walking down the hall, waiting for Misty and Drew to catch up to her. It was quite some time before she heard the pounding footsteps of those two jogging to her.

"Do you know what you just did?" Drew panted on her left, and Misty came to her right.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" Misty held her hand up for a high five, which May returned. Drew scowled at his crew member, before turning his attention back to May.

"Your father will never forgive you. He'll never accept you again." Drew persisted. May rolled her eyes.

"He never accepted me to begin with. He only accepted who he hoped I would be. Besides, I know for a fact that the rest of my family doesn't care. Dawn already loves you guys. Max has always wanted to be a pirate. And my Mom will support me no matter what I do." May shrugged.

"What about that other guy?" Misty asked. May laughed.

"That would be Brendan, and I don't really care what he thinks." May nodded, "So, Drew, wanna give us some more information on these people we're meeting?" she questioned, changing the subject. Drew rolled his eyes, but started discussing their hopefully allies.

The darkness made it difficult to see. but May could see basic features. Two men guarded the plank leading up on to the main ship. The taller one nearly blended in with the night, wearing all black with longer black hair. The shorter one had reddish brown hai with red and white attire.

"Who are you to think you have the right to travel on to The Shining Gem?" the taller of the two men glared at Drew, even though he couldn't see his face from under the hat.

"Andrew Hayden, you know me well." Drew's eyes flashed in the darkness, but May could see the glint of his teeth as he smiled. Both of the men at first seemed shocked, but then gleeful.

"Drew!" the smaller one exclaimed, nearly tackling Drew into a hug. Drew grimaced slightly, and gently pushed him off.

"Hello Kenny, Nando." Drew greeted. Nando, the taller one nodded, while Kenny simply smiled.

"I didn't know you had another one on your crew besides Misty and Solidad." Nando's eyes roamed to May. May glanced to Drew, not sure if she should talk, but Drew spoke.

"That's May, she's new." Drew shrugged, blase. May looked down, not sure whether to frown or grin at the little bubble of excitement that brewed in her stomach when Drew said that, not correcting their assumption. Then again, why would he? Kenny's eyebrows shot up to his hair line and he looked skeptically at Drew.

"She's new and you allowed her into a private group of three?" Kenny asked. Misty rolled her eyes.

"Kenny, we're not here to talk to you about the Rose's new recruits, we're here to talk to Zoey." Misty finally got impatient.

"What about?" Nando questioned and Drew frowned.

"Well Nando, perhaps Zoey will allow you to listen. That is, as long as she trusts her second in command." Drew stated and Nando nodded stiffly. "Of course. Come on. Kenny, stay on guard." Nando commanded. Kenny opened his mouth, as if to object, but Nando leveled him a glare and he silenced. Nando spun around and May realized he was wearing a cape as it swung out behind him. She bit her hand, stiffling snickers.

"Yup. Superhero Nando." Misty nodded, realizing why she was laughing. "You get used to it." she whispered. May managed to turn her laugh into a cough before they got on deck. She noted how Drew moved closer to her and Misty as the few members of the crew on deck looked up to them.

"Maybelle," Drew breathed in her ear, and May idly shivered, "Two things. One, according to them, you are my crew member, nothing more, nothing less. Two, do NOT talk." he commanded and May sullenly nodded.

She got it. Don't let them know of a weakness or say anything stupid. Nando knocked on a door and May shivered slightly with anticipation. "Zoey, we have guests." Nando called in to the door, and after a few moments, the door swung open.

May smiled slightly. This girl was her kind of friend. Zoey had spiky red hair and wore a simple pair of black pants and a red top, with a black overcoat and black boots. While May was doing her overview, apparently, so was Zoey.

"Ah, Drew, Misty...Maybelle Maple." May jumped as she heard her name being said and looked at Zoey in shock. Drew simply shook his head.

"Should have known..." he mumbled to himself. Nando looked between Zoey, Drew, and May in shock.

"The Maybelle Maple? The governor's daughter? Why is she on your crew?" Nando asked, and Drew gave him a dirty look as Zoey sighed.

"Nando, enough. Come in, all of you." she turned on her heel, leading the way into the room. May jumped slightly as something rubbed against her leg. As everyone else sat down, May attempted to free her feet from the pokemon. Zoey looked up and snickered, "Look at that. Glameow likes you." she whistled and the cat pokemon pulled away from May, jumping onto Zoey's desk. May released a breath, sitting in between Drew and Misty.

"So why is it you came here?" Nando immediately fired off.

"Nando, patience." Zoey commanded. Nando nodded, pulling back and leaning against a wall.

"I'm not aware if you have heard or not, but the Rockets have obtained another ship." Drew started, causing Nando and Zoey's eyes to widen.

"I did not know that." she shook her head. "Continue." she gestured with her hand and Drew nodded.

"Jessie currently controls the Diamond Rocket, while James took one of the King's ships." Drew explained, "I'm sure you can tell already how that is a problem. They were virtually harmless on one ship, but with two they could be quite the menace." Drew explained. Zoey nodded her agreement.

"Thank you of informing us of this, but why?" Nando questioned, and for once Zoey didn't stop him. Drew shook his head.

"I'm going to start a war with them." he declared, and Zoey laughed, nodding.

"I figured that out when you first informed us of the Rockets new ship. And, I shall assume you wanted us as allies." Zoey guessed correctly and Drew nodded.

"Why would we put our lives on the line? They haven't bothered us." Nando pointed out and May rolled her eyes. Drew's previous warning not to talk slipped from her mind.

"Yet, you mean. It may be true that they haven't bothered you _yet_. Right now, their main focus is the Rose, but if they get rid of the Rose, where will they turn next? It's just a matter of time before they bother you." she pointed out. Drew whipped around to glare at her and she waved him off, standing, "It's basically a matter of putting your lives on the line now, with better chances, or putting them on the line later, by yourselves and without the Rose's help." she declared.

"Maybelle!" Drew hissed, tugging her back into her seat, "Enough!" Zoey chuckled as May glared back at him.

"I had heard rumors about you Miss Maple, but I never believed them to be true. Apparently though, they are. It's no wonder you allowed her to become a member of your crew." Zoey nodded.

"Although, you could teach her to follow orders and respect." Nando pointed out.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it if she doesn't listen." Drew shook his head, as May got increasingly agitated.

"That's the charm of her." Misty added, winking at May, which calmed her down. "Now, will you be our allies, or as May said, wait until they come to your door?" she questioned, tilting her head.

Zoey and Nando locked eyes, silently communicating. After a few seconds of tense silence, they both nodded, turning their attention back to Drew, May, and Misty.

_**A/N: Follow me on twitter or check out my site for the times when I'm gonna update. Both links are on my profile.**_


	21. Telling the Truth

"Stop glaring at her Drew." Zoey laughed, "You should be thanking her. She's right. If we just sit on the sidelines and watch the Rockets, we could be next." Zoey nodded and Drew finally turned his glare away from May to look at Zoey.

"So that means..." he trailed off, waiting for Zoey to confirm his hopes and finish his sentence.

"We will team with you to take down the Rockets. From what you told us, they should confront you again. We'll trail you by a few miles." Zoey stood, wiping imaginary dust off herself. "Nando, tell the crew of the change of plans." she commanded. Nando nodded, walking out of the room.

"Misty, go inform the crew that we will be followed and not to worry. You-" Misty cut him off before he could finish.

"Got it captain." she saluted and ran away.

"...may take May with you." Drew finished his thought with a sigh. May shook her head.

"I could go now, if you want..." May half stood-half sat.

"No." Drew immediately snapped and she plopped back down obediently. Zoey laughed.

"Drew, my crew now better than to touch any of your crew. Especially her." Zoey gestured with her head towards May, who scowled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" May asked defensively. Zoey held her hands up in surrender, standing.

"Nothing, nothing." she walked pass them, but paused on her way out the door, "The especially her came from the fact that you two can not be more obvious about your feelings for one another." Before either could reply, she was out the room.

They both turned to look at each other, before May burst into laughter and Drew shook his head, chuckling slightly.

"Come on. Let's get back on the Rose." he stood, offering his hand to her, which she took.

"All set Captain!" Misty saluted him as he walked on deck, May following behind. "We're leaving in the morning." Misty explained.

"And we should get plenty of rest. I have a feeling it won't be long before we meet the Rockets again. Except, this time we will be evenly matched." Drew smirked. "Time to pull out the cannons." he smirked, causing May to look at him in confusion.

"I didn't see any cannons." May explained her look. Drew and Misty both laughed.

"Because there aren't any." Drew held his hand up to silence her, already anticipating her question, "At least not the type you'd expect." he nodded, "We have Hydro Cannons and Zap Cannons." he explained cooly. May nodded slowly.

"Those are pokemon moves, aren't they?" she questioned. Misty took over the answering from here.

"Yup. Most of the crew has a pokemon of some sort. Most of them either a raichu, which is where the Zap Cannon comes from, or a blastoise, which is where the Hydro Cannon comes from. I have a Blastoise." Misty grinned, making a pokeball appear out of somewhere, spinning it around her fingers. "Cool." May grinned, but then frowned as she remembered something.

"I guess I better head to bed..." she mumbled. Misty nodded, not getting why that was a big deal, before walking off. May sighed, heading that way too, but Drew grabbed her arm.

"If you want...you can stay in my cabin. There is an extra bed with the crew that I could use." Drew offered. May smiled softly at him, shaking her head.

"No thanks. I should just get it over with. I have to face them eventually." May pointed out and Drew sighed, nodding his agreement.

"Goodnight." he pulled her close, kissing her forehead and causing her to blush.

"Isn't it not good to have the crew know about...?" May trailed off, not sure what to call them. Us? Our relationship?

"It's dark." Drew pointed out unnecessarily. May nodded, only half paying attention to what he was saying. She was still focusing on what she had come to realize. She didn't even realize she was spacing until Drew waved a hand in front of her face.

"Sorry." she snapped back to reality. "I guess I better get going." she gestured behind her, walking back some.

"May, what's going on?" Drew asked, immediately sensing something was off.

"What are we?" she blurted before she could help it, causing Drew to look at her in confusion.

"Hmmm...tough question." he stated sarcastically, rubbing his chin. May bristled at his laid back tone for her serious question, but before she could tell him off, he cut her off. "We are humans, mammals, and members of the Frozen Rose crew." he continued, and May realized he didn't understand what she had asked.

"No, no, no." May cut him off, shaking her head, but she slowly started to grin as she realized what he had said last. "I'm a member of the Rose's crew?" she questioned, and Drew blinked, seemingly unaware of what he had said.

"Oh...well...yeah..." he agreed, and by the tone of his voice, May was pretty sure he was blushing, which made her upset it was dark. "Well, what did you mean?" Drew asked, slyly changing the subject from him. May's turn to blush now.

"Um...nothing." May shook it off.

"No, just tell me." Drew demanded and May sighed, looking at the floor.

"Um...I meant, what are we...together? Like...together..." May refused to give examples, but she gave enough for Drew to understand. He didn't use sarcasm this time, just looked at her with a soft look in his eyes.

"Does this help answer a little bit?" he questioned, moving closer and pressing his lips to hers. May's eyes widened for a moment, before fluttering closed as she leaned into him. As the kiss broke, he smiled. "I'm definitely interested in you Maybelle Maple. I think I want to be with you for a while...if not forever."


	22. A Talk

May nearly squealed girlishly, but refrained, simply grinning up at him.

"Good night." was all she could think up as a reply.

"Night." Drew chuckled as she nearly floated away to her cabin. She froze as she reached her door, biting her lip. This was going to be ugly.

She took a deep breath, steeling her nerves, before making her way into the room.

"May." her father stated, looking her over once. He stood out of the desk chair he was sitting in, walking towards her. May winced as if he was going to hit her, but he sound wrapped her up in his arms.

"Thank goodness you're okay." he mumbled, and May blinked, looking over his shoulder at her smiling Mother and siblings, before her eyes landed on the pouting Brendan. She rolled her eyes, simply returning the hug.

"I thought you'd be angry." May mumbled, causing Norman to chuckle.

"How can I be angry? When my eldest daughter is being brainwashed by pirates?" May ripped away from him, snarling.

"You know what-" May growled, not saying anything as she stalked passed him, "I'm too tired for this right now, I'll talk to you in the morning...maybe." she snapped, jumping onto her bed without taking her shoes off, just falling asleep to the sound of her Mom defending her again.

May yawned, leaning up in bed. It took her a few minutes to remember the previous night, but when she did, she rolled her eyes.

Glancing around the room, she sneered in the direction of her sleeping Dad.

She made her way out the room, purposefully slamming the door on her way out, to wake him. May made her way in deck, moving to the railing as she saw they were moving.

"Why are you always up so early?" Drew questioned, literally appearing out of air to lean on the railing next to her. She jumped, glaring at him until he figured out what he did with a chuckle. "Sorry." he offered.

"Where is Zoey?" May asked, and Drew gestured to a cloud of fog a little while back. "In the fog?" May questioned in surprise. Drew nodded.

"Now, we are just playing the waiting game. Once the Rockets appear, we'll give the signal, and she'll have one of her pokemon use defog to clear away the fog." he explained, then frowned.

"Now, I know for a fact this isn't going to go over very well with you." Drew sighed and May frowned.

"Uh Oh, that doesn't sound good." May implored him to continue.

"I want you to stay in your cabin during the fight, and lock your door." Drew spit it out quickly, already predicting her reaction.

"No!" she exclaimed, "I have a sword, and you know I can use it!" May attempted to convince him. He held his hands up in surrender, sighing.

"Okay, okay, fair enough." he decided, and May grinned at him. "During the battle, I'm going to have Roserade watching your family. Speaking of your family...?" he trailed off as May scowled. "That bad, huh?" he asked.

"Apparently, you pirates are brainwashing me." May stated sarcastically, and Drew chuckled.

"Well, at least he didn't put the blame on you." Drew rationalized.

"I would have rather him out the blame on me! It isn't your fault that I don't want to be the perfect polite little daughter and do as he says!" May whined. Drew was frowning, but not looking at her, looking over her shoulder.

"And so it begins." Drew decided, and May turned around.

In the distance, the Admiral's captured ship was coming there way.

**_A/N: Check out my website! The link is on my profile, you can know when the next update is and stuff like that. You can get to the website by checking where my links are. Check it out and drop a comment in the guestbook!_**


	23. A Fight

**_A/N: I wanted the battle to seem like a flurry of things in succession, so it will move quickly and yes, I did split the battle in two chapters._**

It seemed like it only took Drew a few seconds to suddenly have everything and everyone prepared. All of the crew was now crowded out on the deck, and May stood next to Drew, who had seemingly telepathically summoned Roserade.

"Go tell your family what is happening and what to do." Drew commanded May, who nodded, swiftly following his order. She barreled into her room, where her family is awake, and Roserade nearly stumbled into the back of her. All eyes were on her as she arrived.

"Stay in here. The fight is beginning. Roserade will take care of you." May spoke in short clipped sentences, "Lock the doors, Brendan, you still have your sword, worse comes to worse."

"What about you!" Dawn cried. May's eyes darkened as she grinned.

"I'm fighting with the Rose." May declared.

"So am I." Norman declared, standing, while May's head swiveled to him. "I have a sword too. And I'd rather fight with the devils I know, than with the devils I don't." he explained.

"Atleast I get to kill some pirates." Brendan muttered darkly, unsheathing his own sword. May thought it over for a moment, before nodding her consent.

"Fine." she darted out of the room, leaving it up to her Dad and Brendan to handled the others. She made it up on deck, catching the end of a verbal spat between Drew and James, seeing that the Diamond Rocket had appeared at their other side, and the fog in the back had suddenly moved closer.

"Yes, we will fight you now. Now that the odds are even!" Drew spat, and that must have been some secret code, because the fog covering the Shining Gem suddenly dispersed, and May felt privileged to see the stunned look on James' face. He obviously underestimated how many people would fight against him if push came to shove.

"Jessie! You take care of the Gem!" he roared, and then growled just loud enough for May to hear, "I've got the Rose." May was aware of the boys coming up behind her, and watched as one by one as members of both crews released Pokemon.

Misty let out a Blastoise, Ash a Raichu, Jessie an Arbok, James a Wobuffet, Harley a Cacturne, and Paul a Torterra. It was times like these that May really wished she managed to grab Beautifly's poke ball before being taken on the Rose.

May continued to watch in stunned silence as said pokemon either attacked or catapulted various men from the Admiral's ship to the Rose. Those who didn't have pokemon simple used ropes to switch ships. The deck soon turned into a fray of bodies and swords. May took a deep breath, before running head first into the fire. She was almost immediately corned by two men, one she recognized, the other she didn't.

"Paul! He trusted you, you jerk!" she spat at the one she recognized. He frowned, but said nothing, simply drawing his sword. She mirrored him, aware of the other man still there.

"As he should have."Paul finally spoke, before turning on the man with them and unleashing a flurry of attacks on him. May's eyes widened in surprise. He was on their side the entire time! "Drew and I had this planned out from the beginning." Paul grunted as he quickly disposed of the other crew man without so much as a blink. May shivered. She knew some men would be killed in this battle, but seeing it right in front of her was a bit different. "Be careful Maybelle." Paul spared her one warning glance, before jumping back in the fray.

May took a deep breath, glancing at the dead man at her feet, before following Paul. Soon enough, she ran into another member of the enemy crew she knew. "Harley." she snapped, causing the man to smirk at her.

"Huh, I'm surprised Captain Hayden kept you around this long. I thought he would have replaced you with a new toy by now, guess he doesn't have very high standards." he snickered, and had just enough time to deflect a blow from May. "Touchy, eh?" he questioned, and started attacking her.

May's eyes widened in surprise as Harley was suddenly better than her,_ a lot_ better that her. "What happened?" she gasped, stunned by his sudden sword fighting ability. She deflected a blow that would have beheaded her before he paused to answer her.

"I got better." he answered, nearly giggling. May scowled at him.

"Really? I couldn't tell." she stated semi-sarcastically. She yipped as her sword was across the deck. She was now defenseless.

"May!" she heard her Dad cry and saw he and Brendan looking over at her in horror. They both ran to her, but it seemed like slow motion. She knew they wouldn't make it in time to save her as she turn back to Harley, who was smirking viscously as he brought his sword down towards her head. May closed her eyes as she waited for the impact.

It never came.

Her eyes snapped open in surprise as she was shoved sideways and onto the ground. She jumped back up just in time to see Drew basically take the blow for her, managing to deflect it slightly to make sure it wasn't a killing blow. It still cut his arm open though. Drew hissed, glaring at Harley as he went up against him.

"Thank God." Norman declared as he reached her. He hugged her quickly, before returning to the fight. Brendan spared Drew an envious glance, before following Norman.

May watched as Drew attacked Harley so ferociously that he was forced to retreat or be killed. She gasped as she watched Drew inspect his wound, therefore not seeing James sneaking up on him.

"Drew!" she cried, bolting towards him and watching him look up, realization dawning on his face. He ducked just in time. May released a relieved breath and arrived just in time to block another attack from James. She felt more than saw Drew standing up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, using the other with his sword. James growled as he attempted to block both their attacks at the same time.

"Two on one is not fair." May spun out of Drew's grasp, facing the voice. Her eyes widened as she realized it was Jessie, not having realized when she came on board. It was an even fight now.


	24. Finishing A Fight

She didn't have much time to think because Jessie was a sword fighter. A _good _sword fighter. A _very good _sword fighter. May panted as she just managed to deflect all of Jessie's moves, but didn't manage to throw any of her own moves in. She was just trying to stay alive.

The pattern continued for a few more minutes, May jumping around deck to avoid begin hit. But then it was stopped.

May released a half strangled oof as the narrow of her back hit the rail on the side of the ship.

"No place left to dance away sweetheart." Jessie grinned smugly at her, eyes glaring viscously, and May gulped. Before Jessie could make a move though, someone else was slammed against the railing, James. Drew had corned James now too, but obviously James didn't realize that, for he just kept moving backwards until he fell over the railing and into the wild ocean.

"James!" Jessie gasped, pushing passed May to look over the railing. May couldn't hurt her, even though she had the perfect chance with Jessie's back turned.

James didn't resurface.

"Retreat!" the newly widowed Jessie screamed after a few silent moments and the deck almost instantaneously cleared, leaving behind a few bodies that everyone avoided looking at, considering it seemed like everyone on the Rose was okay. Paul stayed on the Rose, returning his Torterra to it's poke ball. Drew and May stayed locked in place, still stunned by what they had just witnessed. James had basically ended up killing himself.

Silence reined the Frozen Rose and the Shining Gem as ey watched the two ships sail quickly away. Then the Shining Gem went up in a cheer at their victory, the Rose soon following suit. May and Drew stayed silent.

"I-I didn't mean to kill him that way." Drew finally broke the silence, probably thinking about what a terrifying death it must have been.

"It wasn't your fault...he did it himself." May consoled him, hugging him lightly. Drew nodded slowly, returning the hug as his confidence returned. May released a calmed breath as she realized that this wasn't effecting him that strongly. May pulled away from him and nearly groaned as she saw her Dad and Brendan coming their way. Even though she was happy they were both still alive, she didn't want to deal with them right now. It was time for them to cut up on Drew again. Drew stiffened as he realized they were coming, watching Norman eyeing him curiously.

May almost fainted in shock at what happened next.

Norman grabbed Drew's hand, pumping it enthusiastically. Drew was obviously just as shocked as May, looking at Norman as if he had three heads. Brendan shook his head in stunned disgust.

"Thank you so much my boy! You saved my daughter. When we get back to Petalburg, you'll be rewarded. Aristocracy for you!" Norman stated cheerfully, and Brendan growled.

"He's a pirate!" he snapped, pointing out the obvious.

"And the king is offering pirates the chance to become pirate hunters, you know that! You'll do that, right my boy?" Norman asked, finally releasing Drew's hand. Drew locked eyes with May, smiling slightly.

"I'd like to, but I must run it over with my crew." he agreed and Norman nodded.

"Of course, of course! Come along Maybelle! Let's go check on our family to insure they are okay and insure them that we are okay." Norman hooked May's elbow, dragging her and Brendan away from Drew. "We'll talk later Andrew!" he sang over his shoulder. Paul glanced warily between Drew and the retreating Norman.

"You're going to go with them, aren't you? And become a pirate hunter?" Paul asked with narrowed eyes as he closed the door behind him. He sat down, watching Drew fidget.

The Rose was back on course to Petalburg, and although a few had lost their lives on the Shining Gem, everyone on the Frozen Rose was alive, if not completely uninjured. Drew had gotten his arm covered and immediately retreated into his room, causing Paul to follow, knowing instinctively why he was doing it.

"I have to do it Paul." Drew ran a hand through his hair, nearly grunting in annoyance. Paul glared darkly at him, eyes blazing.

"Why? Why would you want to become some fancy royal scum?" Paul snapped and Drew sighed.

"I wouldn't." he objected weakly, "Just a pirate hunter. It would give us all a better life." he pointed out. Paul snorted.

"Why all the sudden the big about face? Just because the Mighty Maybelle Maple offered you a chance?" Paul questioned mockingly. Drew stood, glaring down at Paul who sat across the desk from him.

"Because I love her!" Drew burst and Paul's mouth dropped open, "Because I love the Mighty Maybelle Maple and she deserves better than a pirate! Holy hell! She deserves better than a pirate hunter! She deserves better than a Prince!" Drew exploded, "I am much lower than what she deserves, but god damn it Paul! I will try to be just a little bit closer to what she deserves. Every day! Every single day, I will try to be good enough to even be in her presence...every day." Drew nearly collapsed back down into his head, dropping his head into his hands.

Paul sat there, stunned. Drew never showed emotion like that, not in all the years they had ever known one another. He shifted slightly in his seat, always uncomfortable with comforting people. Paul let his eyes roam around the room awkwardly, before landing on the open door and the gaping girl in it.


	25. Pirate Hunter or Just Pirate?

"Misty!" Paul hissed, relieved. Drew's head snapped up and he groaned as he saw Misty, before dropping his head back into his palms. Misty slowly started to grin.

"That's great Drew! You two will be so happy!" she nearly squealed, very un-Misty like. Paul growled.

"Yes. He can either leave or turn us into a traitorous ship." Paul pointed out.

"Traitors to who? The other pirates?" Drew snorted, standing again.

"He has a point." Misty agreed and Paul threw his hands in the air, exasperated.

"Fine, tell me Drew. If we come face to face with Zoey and the Shining Gem, would you be able to attack them or put them in jail? After everything they have done for us?" Paul questioned and Drew rolled his eyes.

"Okay, the one exception." he allowed, "Listen to me Paul, I won't force you or anyone to do what you don't wish to do, including the crew. I'll leave it down to a vote." Drew decided, bargaining, and causing Paul to nod slowly. "Misty, go gather the crew." he demanded, and Misty complied, darting out of the room.

"But Drew, if we vote to stay pirates...you won't leave the Rose for her...will you?" Paul asked, unnaturally timid. Drew avoided his eyes, walking passed the desk.

"Come on. Let's go take the vote, don't want them to get impatient." Drew commanded, and Paul's eyes widened as he realized what it meant.

No matter what, Drew was staying with May.

In next to no time it seemed, May was being engulfed by her family. "Oh! Thank goodness you're okay!" she recognized her Mom's voice, but she was too busy trying not to choke on Dawn's hair as she hugged her tightly to care.

"Are you okay?" Caroline moved over to May, after hugging her husband.

"I'm fine." May assured her.

"Yes! Thanks to that wondrous Andrew Hayden!"

Caroline, Max, and Dawn looked at Norman as if he had grown a pokemon's head and started talking to them through it.

"Are you feeling okay?" Caroline asked slowly, checking him over for head wounds. Norman laughed.

"Stop it dear!" he chided. Brendan huffed.

"Yes, dear Andrew Hayden saved Maybelle. Pushed her out of the way of a killing blow." he informed mockingly.

"And took the blow for her! Just making sure it didn't kill him!" Norman chipped in happily, "Maybe I was wrong about those pirates!"

And that was all May ever wanted to hear.

"So the option is truly yours." Drew finished a speech on their two choices. To stay a pirate ship or become pirate hunters. The crew had stayed respectfully quiet up until this point as Drew spoke, but now burst into noise.

"People." Drew growled, annoyed, "People!" he roared and the silence was back. "We'll take a vote." he informed them and a low murmur broke out.

"Well, what if someone doesn't like the decision made?" someone from the back questioned.

"Alternate arrangements will be made." he assured them all, waiting for more questions he was sure would come.

"Privacy! I don't want my vote exploited!" someone else objected. Drew discreetly rolled his eyes.

"Paper." he answered, "We'll write it on paper and put it in this." he grabbed one of the crewman's hats, holding it up for everyone to see. The low mumbling finally slowly went away as paper was passed around.

"Write yes or no very clearly. Yes to become a pirate hunter ship, no to stay the same." Paul added, glancing at Drew before very clearly writing something for him to see.

NO.

Paul kept his gaze locked with Drew's as he folded the paper and put it in the hat. Drew simply calmly held his gaze as he put his own paper in the hat.

YES.

It took the crew a few minutes to slowly trickle their way forward and vote, but eventually they all did.

"Final call." Drew held the hat up, eyes scanning the room for a few seconds. Finally, he nodded and started tallying the results.

37

5

Drew and Paul both looked on, stunned at the results as the majority of the crew broke into a cheer. They locked eyes as Drew smirked.

"And so we will become pirate hunters." he declared softly.

Norman excused himself from his family, and slipped away. He walked down the hall, whistling slightly. He paused just in time as he reached the corner, almost running head first into Drew.

"Andrew!" he cried joyfully, "Just the man I was looking for!" he nodded, "Did you talk to your crew yet?" he asked eagerly. Drew nodded, also smiling.

"Yeah, we have officially decided to become pirate hunters." he informed I'm proudly and Norman clapped.

"Brilliant." he cheered and Drew shifted.

"I have a request to make." Drew started quietly and Norman nodded his consent to continue. "I understand that you have not known me long, but I am...requesting your daughter's hand in marriage." Drew spit out before he could take it back. Norman jumped slightly. He eyed him warily again.

"I will contemplate it and let my answer get back to you." Norman nodded and Drew released a breath, grinning.

"That's all I ask." he nodded.

_**A/N: More of a filler. I just got back from NaNo land, which I won! Overshot by 11,000 words actually, which basically meant that I had to reread this entire story to see where I was in it...Forgetful old me, so focused on NaNo...**_


	26. Home

It took a surprisingly short amount of time for them to reach Petalburg Port. Drew looked over at the approaching coastline, seeing it for the first time in a while.

"This is it." Drew glanced sideways, seeing Paul leaning against the rail on his other side.

"What do you mean?" Drew asked quietly, already figuring it out in his head.

"I can't be a pirate hunter Drew. You know that. So many of my friends...my family...are pirates. I couldn't risk it all and just be happy with a nice easy life. I like danger. I like adventure. So...this is it. I'm leaving the Rose." Paul didn't look at him as he said this, and Drew nodded.

"I figured. Reggie has a spot open on his crew then?" Drew asked. Paul laughed slightly.

"Even if he didn't, you know he would have forced one open for me. I'm not even loosing any stance. His previous second mate died, and now he wants me to take his place." Paul fiddled with his fingers.

"And what does the crew of the Poison Howl think of this?" Drew questioned. Paul snorted.

"Such a stupid name." he muttered, before answering the question, "They know me. They respect me and they wouldn't dare go against Reggie and the others." Paul chuckled. Drew recalled possibly mentioning to May that Paul was an orphan. That was a lie. His Dad still roamed the seas somewhere, but his Mom and Brother ran a ship, the Poison Howl.

"I would suggest sneaking off to the Cove when we reach land." Drew informed him. The cove was were pirates docked on Petalburg. After all, it's not as if they'd be welcomed in the actually port.

"I planned that."

Silence reined for a few seconds. There was nothing left to say. Paul started to walk away, but Drew grabbed him, hugging him.

"I'll miss you brother."

Later that day, May leaned over that same railing, feeling the wind blow through her hair and smiled. It had been so long since she had even been able to glimpse at her home.

Although...perhaps not that long. Perhaps only days, weeks, months... She had no sense of time on the Rose.

"You look deep in thought." May was so used to him just appearing out of no where, that she didn't even jump.

"Hello Drew. How long have I been out here?" she asked. Drew leaned against the railing next to her.

"So eager to leave us?" he joked, but she could see the bit of hurt in his eyes.

"No." she smiled, boldly running her hand along his cheek, "The Rose has a timeless quality about it. I was just curious." she informed him. He chuckled, grabbing her hand and holding it to his face.

"Curiosity killed the glameow you know." he smirked, and she could feel the movement of his jaw muscles under her hand as he spoke, making her smile.

"No actually. Curiosity was falsely accused, it was actually stupidity that killed the glameow." she stated matter of factly. He looked at her in astonishment for a few moments, before laughing and shaking his head.

"2 weeks." he stated, dropping her hand.

"2 weeks what?" she asked in confusion.

"You've been on the Rose for two weeks." he elaborated and she gaped at him.

"That's it?" she managed after a few silent seconds and he chuckled, nodding.

"It was two weeks packed to the brim with action, fun...and romance." his eyes darkened for a second and she blushed under his heated gaze.

"Land ho!" The moment was broken and May laughed.

"Wow, classic pirates, huh? Land ho!" she mocked. Drew shook his head.

"Classic pirate hunters actually." he stated, completely at ease, while May's head whipped to face him.

"What? You're pirate hunters!" she squealed, but before Drew could answer, she basically threw herself at him and he was forced to catch her, laughing.

"I heard land." Norman appeared and May jumped away from Drew, as if electrocuted. Or rather, tried to, but Drew held his arms around her waist and she stared at him with wide eyes, but she wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the fuming Brendan, who in turn was looking to Norman, but the man didn't even look at May and Drew, humming happily as he watched Petalburg Port approach.

They were finally home.

**_A/N: We're coming towards the end. But, I will tell you right now. There will be a sequel, but it will be ikarishipping. I will give you one guess as to what the name of it will be. Hehe._**


	27. The Beginning of the End

Norman glanced to Drew, ignoring how May was in his arms it seemed. "I'll warn you now. You may not get the warmest reception, but once I explain the situation, I'm sure things will be fine." Norman nodded.

"Okay. I'll trust you." Drew stated back evenly. As they got closer and closer to the shore, things started coming into more focus. More specifically, all the men in uniform running around like wild on the docks. "Well, I think they spotted us." Drew joked quietly in May's ear, "This isn't gonna be pretty." he stated more seriously, probably more for his own ears, but May heard him anyway. He released her, but she grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Everything will turn out okay." she whispered, ignoring the feel of Brendan's burning gaze in her back. She really hoped that was true, because the moment the ship came to a stop on the shore, it was flooded by soldiers.

May squeaked as she was pulled away from Drew to her Father and Brendan, and eventually the rest of her family. "Dad! Stop them!" she cried, tugging on her Dad's sleeve, watching as the soldiers pulled the pirate (hunters) together.

For one terrifying moment, May thought her Dad wasn't going to do anything, but then he stepped forward, shaking her grip on his sleeve off. "Enough! These men...and women," he added when he saw Solidad and Misty, "have become pirate hunters, unhand them." he commanded in his governor's voice and they all immediately complied. "Wow, get out of jail free card, literally." May just heard Misty mumble. "They have injured, bring them to the doctors. Repair any damages to their ship. Send a runner to the King so the Frozen Rose is added to the registry of ships belonging to hunters, and get their IDs. How many are in your crew?" Norman took a break in his orders to ask Drew.

"Forty-tw-one. Forty one." he stumbled, remembering that Paul wouldn't be coming with a frown. May tilted her head at him, but he shook his head at her, silently telling her later. Norman nodded.

"And get 41 hunter IDs. They're used to let naval soldiers know that you are not pirates." he explained, as the soldiers all scrambled to do his orders and May smiled.

"Told you everything would be okay." she whispered to Drew, taking his hand again.

"Come on Andrew. You may eat at our home tonight." Norman easily flounced off the ship, followed by the rest of his family and a sulking Brendan.

"Misty, watch the ship!" Drew called over his shoulder as May forcefully tugged him off the ship.

"Aye Aye Captain!" was the last thing he heard before laughing and running to catch up to May.

May, Drew, Norman, Brendan, Max, Dawn, and Caroline were all having dinner together when it happened. Norman sat at the head of the table, May on one side of him, Drew on the other, Dawn next to Drew, Brendan next to May, Max next to Brendan, and Caroline next to Dawn.

"Drew, I have some good news for you." Norman grinned at him, and Drew looked at him with polite curiosity.

"Yes?" he asked, when Norman refrained from saying anything. His grin widened.

"I've been thinking about you proposition..." Drew straightened slightly, suddenly knowing what this was about.

"What?" May interrupted curiously. Drew and Norman both shushed her and she frowned. Max snickered slightly. Dawn flicked him in the temple and he winced, glaring at her.

"And, I will allow you to marry my daughter." Norman leaned back in his chair. Five exclamations of 'What?' and one exclamation of 'Really?' followed. The happy, but shocked 'Really?' from Drew, the excited 'What?' from May, the shocked and disgusted 'What?' from Brendan, and three surprised 'What?'s from Dawn, Caroline, and Max. Drew and May caught each others eyes from across the table happily, both grinning, while Norman nodded happily.

"I'm sure you and Dawn will be very happy." he agreed.

"What?" May and Dawn both exploded, standing and in the process bumping the table, shaking it around. Brendan slowly started to grin, while Drew started to frown.

"Really? That's lovely!" Brendan laughed gleefully, and Drew glared at him, which caused him to smirk.

"Dad!" Dawn objected, but Norman laughed happily.

"I know! You can thank me later! I think the women have a wedding to plan!" he stood, and Drew followed nervously.

"Sir...I didn't exactly mean-" he started to explain, but Norman waved him away.

"I know, I know, you probably didn't want me to tell her, but it's easier this way! You don't have to worry about getting a fancy proposal prepared." he waved over his shoulder at them as he left the room. Dawn turned her furious gaze on Drew.

"I don't want to marry you!" Dawn spat at him and Caroline also took the opportunity to stand.

"Now, Dawn..." she started gently, worried about Drew's feelings.

"I don't want to marry you either!" Drew exclaimed back. Caroline paused, glancing at him, and at Brendan, who was laughing his head off by now.

"This is great!" he chortled, "You and Dawn getting married!"

"They're not getting married!" May snapped at him. Dawn glanced at her in surprise, before she understood.

"Oh..." she mumbled, glancing between May and Drew. Drew looked completely sullen, and at some point had dropped back into his chair dejectedly. May looked on the brink of tears, glaring at Brendan at the same time. "Dad!" she exclaimed, running out of the room.

"Maybelle." Brendan stated sternly, standing also and sobering from his laughter. Max just watched the proceedings as if it was one big drama show, while Caroline frowned, whether it was because Drew and May wanted to get married, or because Brendan wanted to marry May, it was unclear. "I want you to marry me." he grabbed her hand gently, just as Norman walked into the room, Dawn trailing him.

"What is this I hear about a problem?" he asked, before catching a look at their intertwined hands and starting to smile, "I see! You're all fighting over a wedding date!" he laughed heartily.

"Norman..." Caroline started gently, but May cut her off.

"No!" she ripped her hand from Brendan's, "I'm not marrying Brendan! Ever!" she yelled. Norman looked at her in surprise.

"Maybelle, he is the admiral. He is a great catch!" Norman objected. May started to cry and he blinked in surprise.

"May..." Drew muttered, leaning out slightly, but she pulled away from his outstretched hand.

"No! I don't want to marry him!" she screamed, nearly having a melt down. "I don't love him!" she objected and Norman started to get angry.

"Maybelle Maple! You are marrying him! You'll learn to love him!" he commanded and May screamed, not saying anything, just screaming. "Stop having a hissy fit! You're acting like a child!" Norman yelled at her. "I know you have a little crush on Drew, but your sister is marrying him." Norman snapped.

"I'm not marrying Brendan because I don't have a crush on Drew! I love Drew!" she screamed again, barely understandable from the sobs that racked her body, before spinning on her heel, hiking up her skirts, and running out of the room. Norman stared after her in shock, while Drew took action and started to follow her.

"Hold it Hayden!" Norman snapped, Drew turned around. "Get out of my house!" he hissed and Drew followed said command. Dawn looked at her Dad in shock.

\"You're not going to make May marry Brendan?" she stated cautiously, Drew paused in the doorway to hear his answer.

"Of course I am. She's a child, she doesn't know what she wants." he hissed, "I'll find you a more...suitable suitor." he stated. Drew left then, not wanting to hear anymore. Dawn scoffed at him.

"You're the child! Just because you and Mom managed to fall in love from your marriage doesn't mean May will! She loves Drew! And it's a shame, because I don't think she'll marry Brendan." she raised her head arrogantly, stalking from the room to May's.

"May." she walked in to her older sister's room, to see said older sister sobbing into her pillow. She shushed her quietly, rubbing her back and running her fingers through her hair. After a few minutes, she could be understandable.

"Where did Drew go?" May asked.

"He left. Dad forced him too." Dawn explained. She watched May's face shift into a mask of sorts, as all previous thoughts of crying left.

"If he loved me, he would have fought for me." she stated, emotionless. Dawn gasped.

"May, you're not going to-" May cut her off, standing and dusting off her skirts.

"I'll be back. I'm going to explain to Father how childish I was acting, and how I would be lucky to marry Brendan." she stated, still no emotion in her voice as she left the room.

_**A/N: Sorry for the lack of an update, but my old laptop died, literally, no fixing it this time, but then I got a new one for Christmas! And now I can update! Happy Holidays to all!**_


	28. A Wedding

"I can't believe you would just let her go." Misty scoffed at him as Drew explained the whole story to her.

"She doesn't need the life of a pirate." he snapped at her. Misty rolled her eyes.

"She said she loved you." she pointed out, "Do you love her too?" she asked gently. Drew sneered at her.

"Obviously. I love her enough to let her have a good life, not the life of a pirate." he repeated and Misty scoffed again.

"You're not a pirate! You're better now! You're a pirate hunter!" Misty pointed out, and Drew shook his head stubbornly.

"I'm still not good enough." he pushed her gently out of his cabin before she could complain, shutting the door in her face.

Norman was overjoyed that May realized her mistake, and the wedding was scheduled for two months afterwards. Two months of heavy planning.

"You look beautiful." Norman smiled at his blushing bride of a daughter. May gave him a hollow smile.

"Thank you." she stated.

She did look beautiful. Her brown hair was done up in a simple bun, with a few curls hanging down. Her dress was white silk and strapless. It was wrinkles down to the waist were it puffed out in a cinderella style, but with squares of folded fabric. (**_Picture on Profile)_**

Dawn waved to her sister who just stared back as Dawn sighed, making her way down the aisle as the only bridesmaid. Max had already made his way there, where Brendan was waiting happily.

Caroline took gasping breathes as she ran in from the room, Norman blinked. "Caroline! You're supposed to be out there! Why did you come back in?"

"I need to talk to my daughter, on her wedding day." she snapped back at him and he jumped slightly at the venom in her voice, "Alone." she stated coldly. Norman shook his head, letting them have privacy.

May looked silently at her Mom. "Such a beautiful woman..." she put her hands on May's shoulders, "If you would only be happy." she added, smiling softly. May tilted her head questionably.

"Why wouldn't I be happy? I'm marrying the man of my dreams." she stated, dead. Caroline laughed lightly.

"Good girl. You've been trained well Maybelle." Caroline nodded, "I'm your mother, and I guess you will do what makes you happy." she stated seriously, "Which is?" she persisted.

"Marrying Brendan." May stated back, and Caroline shook her head exasperatedly, before letting her hands drop from May's shoulders.

"Okay." she shrugged, "Just remember. This is the only man that will be in your life, forever." she pressed. May nodded, which she even managed to make seem emotionless.

"I'm aware. I will have his children and be a perfect wife." she stated, and Caroline sighed.

"Yes, I can see that." she reached down in the bust of her gown, and when her hand came back, it was full of money. May simply blinked as her Mom spun her

around, shoving the money down the back of her dress. Spinning her back around, Caroline still frowned. "In case you decide to be happy instead of obedient. I

want my fiery, think for herself daughter back."

May blinked again, as her mother stalked back into the room. "Father." she called softly and Norman returned, smiling at her.

"Come now." he wrapped his arm around hers, pulling her down the aisle. May pasted on a smile and looked into Brendan's beaming face. Norman wasn't oblivious to the whispers, and on any other occasion would be beaming with pride.

"Oh, she's so beautiful...but why isn't she happy?"

"Wonderful dress, wonderful hair, maybe an emotion overload, so now she's empty, because that smile seems fake..."

"Wow. The Admiral seems to be marrying a zombie, but at least she's pretty."

"I heard stories about Maybelle. I thought she was feisty, but she simply seems obedient...I wouldn't mind that kind of wife!"

Norman's smile faltered, but he handed her to Brendan. "I know you'll take care of her." he handed May's hand to him.

"I will." Brendan agreed, beaming, but not looking at Norman, but May. May smiled back. They walked up the steps together, in front of the priest.

"Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today to celebrate the union of these two, Brendan Kass and Maybelle..." Norman stared at his daughter and Brendan. They were a lovely couple. They would grow happy together. He was sure of it. With this new thought, a genuine smile hit his face.

"...anyone who believes these two should not be together, may they speak now or forever hold there peace." the priest paused, glancing around the room, before smiling contentedly. "Very well, then-"

"I object!"

**_A/N: You knew it had to happen, haha..._**


	29. The End

Silence hit the church as everyone stared at him. May's eyes filled with tears, breaking her façade and Norman's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Y-You're reasoning?" the priest stuttered. Brendan looked down sadly, before looking up at May.

"I objected, because you aren't the Maybelle I fell in love with. And I don't think I'll ever see that Maybelle again, unless you go and marry your pirate." he laughed bitterly.

"Brendan..." May trailed off, really not sure what to say. "I..." she leaned forward, kissing him on the lips, before leaning closer to his ear, "Thank you." she mumbled, hugging him. Brendan smiled, returning the hug.

"I'll distract Daddy Dearest. You make a run for it." he replied. May laughed, a real laugh this time.

"Thank you." she repeated, backing up, still looking at him as she slowly walked backwards down the aisle. "Thank you." she repeated one more time, before leaning down to take off her fancy high heels, throwing them aside, and pulling her skirt up, running out of the church, well aware of the money still in the back of her dress.

May froze as the door behind her slammed shut. If she hadn't stopped, she would have run into him. They both blinked in surprise.

"May."

"Drew."

Silence. Not necessarily awkward, but not comfortable either.

"What are you doing here Drew?" May finally sighed, but as Drew opened his mouth, she grabbed his arm, dragging him behind the church. He looked at her questionably and she laughed bitterly. "I can't be seen talking with a pirate. It isn't proper." Drew's eyes flared darkly and she glared back.

"So, you're still ashamed of me?" Drew finally broke their staring contest to ask. May shook her head in disbelief.

"Drew! Are you hearing yourself? Two months ago, I wouldn't have cared if you were a pirate! Or a bum! Or a banished man! ANYTHING!" May screamed, emotion finally breaking, "Drew, you just walked away! I took that as meaning you really didn't care about me! I cared about you!" May swiped at her eyes, where tears were now streaming down. Drew leaned out, but she slapped his hand away.

"May!" Drew complained, "I asked for your hand! How else could I prove to you that I love you?" he snapped. May threw her hands in the air.

"I don't know! Don't give up on me! Fight for me!" May shot back. Drew pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes roaming over her once.

"You look beautiful." the look on his face made it seem like he hadn't meant to say it aloud, and May couldn't help but giggled, anger dissolving. She immediately sobered though, and sighed. He flicked his hair out of his eyes, crossing his arms awkwardly.

"Why didn't you fight for me?" May asked quietly, looking down.

"I- you deserved better than me." Drew avoided her eyes as her head snapped back up to face him. Then, to the shock of Drew, she burst into laughter.

"Are you-ahahaha-k-hehe-kidding me?" Drew waited to reply for a few moments as she controlled her laughter.

"Why does that seem funny to you?" he asked coldly and May rolled her eyes, suddenly seeming much happier. She grabbed the back of his neck, but didn't pull him closer, eyes warm.

"Because you're so smart, cool, calm, collected, amazing, all the time, but you're so stupid too!" she shook her head affectionately, while he gaped at her.

"You can't just insul-" Drew was cut off by May pulling his head down to her lips. Then, he really didn't care if she had insulted him or not, because he was too busy trying to get his mind back after a mind-blowing kiss.

"So, uh, does this mean you'll marry me?" Drew nearly smacked himself as that was the first thing his mind could come up with to say. What a lovely way to scare her away after just getting her back.

"Instead of a high ranking, sought after, admiral?" May stated in disbelief, as Drew's stomach slowly sank, but she kept her arms around him, which was a good sign. She grinned, "In an instant." She agreed, and then pulled him back down to her, both of them grinning now.

And so they were together. They weren't the perfect couple. They made mistakes. They fought. But they were together. Happy forever. Aboard the Frozen Rose.

_**A/N: The End! If you're interested, the actual wedding is going to be in the sequel, for those of you who guessed it: Aboard the Poison Howl. It might be a little while before I post that up though, atleast until I type a few chapters up, and I will post a sequel alert at the end of this, so you guys know when it goes up. Just to let you know, Aboard the Poison Howl (ATPH) will mostly be ikarishipping, and yes, Paul will be a pirate, and if you read my other ikarishipping, Vielstone Singing Contest, my patented crazy Reggie will be making an appearance...or two...or ten. Hope you guys enjoyed this one though! I know how most writers say it's bittersweet for them to be finishing, but not me! I am happy to be done and moving on to new projects! Chau ATFR! Chau readers! **_


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